Tim Howard
Appearances
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Yeah, look, my take on all these is, Messi, I mean, just keep doing what you're doing. Like, there's no surprise there. Like, we're giving you a nomination, but like, also not surprised. What I am surprised at, like, the last two blow my socks off. Here's why. 16 years old. Like... It was so hard.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
It was so hard for me to compete at the top of my game and to be motivated and not worry about the outcome and not be afraid because I was all of those things at 16, like on the biggest stage to have, I admire these young players. They have just, they just have so much,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
freedom and and it's it's incredible what what youth can do so that for me at the european championships is like one goal four assists for spain at 16 years old pretty amazing the jose lu one is personal because here's why i didn't know he still played soccer and don't laugh no that's not to be disrespectful i knew you were gonna you're a bad guy Jose Liu. I'm a bad guy. You said it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
You're terrible. Jose Liu, he lived in my neighborhood in Manchester. We went to the same gym, country club gym spa. And he was playing, I think, for Stoke City at the time. And he might have either come from or gone to Newcastle, right? And he was like- at Stoke city playing sometimes like that's it. Right. Like end of story. And so that's not, he's a good, good player on his day, but okay.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Next thing I know, probably 10 years go by before I hear his name, this pops up and I'm thinking, I called my mate who was our trainer in, in, in England and he was friends with him. And I said, Tom, I just saw a Jose Lu. It's not the same one, right? No, a Jose Lu scored for Real Madrid. He went, yeah, expletive, expletive, expletive. Can you believe it? I'm like, that's not the same person.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Sure enough, same Jose Lu. That's incredible. Maybe he gets the nod. All right, he gets your nod.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
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Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
LD, this is going to be a little bit of fun or a lot of bit of fun. 2025 preview segment, right? So we're going to have a couple headlines, which are real. And then we're going to have some fake headlines, which we're going to have a ton of fun with. And we hope that you listeners do too. But the real part, this could be the last year of the February to October MLS schedule.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
I, I think I'm in favor of it. I do. I mean, I think, I think it poses challenges, right? Geographically and with the weather, it's just, I think it'll be, there'll be some places where you're just going to have to accept that that's the norm, but ultimately it favors us as a whole in America to be on the FIFA schedule.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Well, this is a space that I love. You and I chatted early on in this process. And we're like, what do we want this to be about? And ultimately, it's about... talking a load of nonsense and fun and opinions on soccer, but more than anything, interacting with our fans and hearing what fans of soccer and fans of this podcast want to hear. Like, the real stuff. Absolutely.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
So the other thing that I think it does is the American sports fan is so resilient, right? That like it will then start to believe that they have an actual home field advantage, right? Because you're like, oh, I don't want to go to Minnesota in December, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
And then people will, it's like when we played with the national team and we brought Mexico up to Columbus, people like started to really engage that. And look, the fact of the matter is geographically, I've never, ever, ever understood why more teams, don't build their clubs around the weather. What do I mean? You shouldn't be losing at home in Denver. You shouldn't be losing at home in Texas.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Now you're going to lose at home. You shouldn't be losing at home in Toronto and Minnesota and Montreal in the winter months. Like you should build these teams to be resilient to the weather. That way you automatically gain this horrific home field advantage. So yeah, I think, I think it'll be a good thing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Well, look, this has needed to happen for a while, right? TFG has a task on its hands now. to rebuild the club kind of from the inside out. And what I would say is anytime you get a takeover because of how Premier League fans, English fans consume the game. It's like mana from heaven. It's like, okay, you're going to get a runway of like, they're here to do good, let's go.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Now, that's a short runway, right? Because ultimately, what we know about fans, particularly in the UK, is... if they have a bag full of excuses and gripes, let's call them gripes, not excuses, right? If you're winning, those gripes stay in the bag. If you're losing, then it becomes about the stadium needs to be redone. We need a new manager, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
So as long as you're winning, now that seems simplistic. What happened with Moshiri, and I was part of the team when that transition of power happened from Bill Kenwright, God rest his soul, to Farhad Moshiri.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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and everybody at the time and i say this because i was part of that that culture it was sell the damn club bill sell the damn club and bill can't remember it yeah yeah i don't want to sell to just anybody because i love this club right and it's always about dollars we get that so he sells right to an ultra rich billionaire and everybody at everton was going yeah
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
The way that media works now, you're getting all the scores and highlights right at your fingertips. As soon as you wake up, you roll over, you check your phone, check your favorite teams. But we can actually use this space and the time to dig into, like, issues that are on the tip of everybody's tongue and the front of mind. So I've enjoyed that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Fast forward eight years later, seven managers later, three directors of football later, fines and sanctions because the money that they demanded be spent was spent and it was spent irresponsibly, right? So- New ownership, they've got to build the trust of the supporters. They get the new stadium involved in the deal and the package to transition the team from Goodison Park to Bramley Moor Dock.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
So that's good. What I look at, and United are starting to get it right. Look, Manchester United, everybody's got something to say about them. They're on the tip of everybody's tongue. But Ineos is creating this... this hierarchy from the top down from Sir Jim Radcliffe and Brailsford down. And I know they brought in Omar Barada from Man City and they just fired or let go of Dan Ashworth.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
But the fact of the matter is they're building a sustainable structure between ownership and the playing staff. So They have their work cut out for them. I think Sean Deitch's contract is up at the end of the season. I don't think they'll retain him, not because I don't like him, and I think he's a really good football manager.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
And what he did, and you know this over the last three years, to steer this football club to safety, Has been football genius because, look, they were under sanctions. They got fined. They sat to sell, you know, some of their better players. They couldn't bring players in.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Got dot points. They have, you know, they have probably three top players and he got them to buy in. So, like, yeah, Landon, I think their work is cut out for them. But it's sunnier days, certainly from where this club has been over the last couple of years.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Not as fake as one might think.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
There's lots of levels of fakeness in this world. No, I think that... I think it could happen. I still wouldn't put them as my favorites, but I like them, and I think that not a terribly fake headline.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Okay. Yeah. Easy to say now, but they're not showing us any signs that it's fake.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
I've enjoyed not always agreeing with you, but with respect, always back and forth banter and debate. But most importantly, the fans. It's just awesome to hear their feedback.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Amazing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Wow. Wow. Another FIFA tournament. The Intercontinental World Global Championship Tournament Cup.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Here's the thing. That is... The wildest headline ever, other than the fact that, I mean, we need more soccer. Who needs more soccer?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
The players don't need more soccer. Oh, my God.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Other than the fact that I can't imagine there being another competition, but I didn't think there'd be another competition a couple years ago. Did you think Nations League would exist? No, I'm glad it does, to be fair.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Not a fake headline. The U.S. need, U.S. men need to win the Nations League and the Gold Cup double. They need it for morale. They need it for confidence. They need it because, let me go on the other side of glory, they need to get to semifinals and finals of tournaments together in big moments to know what that feels like. Because, again, we're beating this horse.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
there is no World Cup qualifying. They need to be in those moments where it hurt, where that sour feeling in your belly when you wake up because something is on the line that day and your whole group needs to feel it. And there's not enough of those moments. I mean, when we were playing, there wasn't enough of those moments.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
And so I think if you look at the headline of them winning both the Nations League and the Gold Cup, that means they will have gotten to those moments and surpassed them. And so, and I think this team can do it under Marcio Pochettino. So yeah, I'm excited for that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Yeah, we are back. Listen, Landon, this is everyone. This is what we're hearing. Everyone's favorite time of the week when Jordan, our wonderful producer, joins us for mailbag questions. But first, today, because it's the holidays, we have a trivia game. I love trivia. Yeah, I'm good at trivia, by the way.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Where's your Houston dash at? Let me see.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
I'm certain it's on Santa's sleigh.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Okay. Just saying. All right. We'll get that up in the new year.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Always. Do we have buzzers? Do we have bells? How are we ringing in?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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That's the worst question ever.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Sometimes you carry us and most of the time I carry us.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
I'm saying 1897. Okay. So Tim's actually closer.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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1886.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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You weren't going to… I just rung in. It doesn't matter. Yes, her mother came to the game, the final, for the first time ever coming to America from Brazil. Amazing, amazing story.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Oh, God.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
See, I just helped you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
That's too many. That's too many.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Oh, you know. You know what? I'm an investor in the Houston Dynamo and Dash, and I'm going to speak to our bosses because this is completely slanted towards Galaxy. And you've done something in your contract five times.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Next episode is all about Houston.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Wow, five? It's you. It's you. It's ridiculous. Not the podcast. How many times has it landed?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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It's a brilliant question. The answer to it is this. I don't think... I don't think you can be great or chase greatness or be considered amongst the elite as an athlete if you don't sacrifice everything.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
i miss weddings and funerals and birthdays um i i closed off from everybody on the in on the outside world by the way i'm not saying this is always healthy and i'm not saying it's always good i needed to get to a level and i've experienced this with other players around me where you where you just create this bubble around yourself you let very few people in um performance wise you have to go to these
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
these incredibly dark rooms in your mind to get yourself focused, to block all the other nonsense out that says you aren't good. There's a lot of takers out there, right? And people fall victim to that because ultimately with what I'm saying, and I know Landon agrees is, is, you isolate yourself to make those performances happen day in, day out, but then you're lonely.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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LD, I took my daughter to see Hell's Kitchen on Broadway. The Alicia Keys produced show last night. Second time I saw it. When I go to see a show more than once, you know I love it. When I first saw it, it was top three for me. I know it's up there with Jersey Boys. And then last night it's moved into the top two. I mean, amazing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And so you search for people to come to, maybe you go to the nightclub and you buy them bottles of alcohol, or you bring them on shopping sprees with you, you bring them on vacation. We see that all the time. And it's just simply to bring someone close to you. And those people are usually leeches. And so it is so hard. It's so hard. But again, for me, I had to sacrifice everything.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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I'm not always proud of that, but certainly proud of the career.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Yeah, and I also think to add to that, Jordan and Landon, look, I mean, the question is brilliant. When it comes to, you know, I put a lot of onus on and blame and responsibility on the agents for not protecting some of these young players. On the clubs, now the clubs are doing a better job in terms of bringing in welfare officers and making sure that
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
I think the other fun part about LD is, like, when I think about some topics that we've touched on but we're going to get more into is, you know, even, like, systemic issues in the game, right? Promotion relegation, the building of youth soccer in America, the pros and cons. Like, this is what everybody's dealing with.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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um they have they have people men and women around the team first team academy players who are looking out for for their welfare on and off the pitch so that that's help but look for me the social media aspect is difficult and a lot of players fall victim to it ld and the fact of the matter is I've always believed someone buys a ticket and someone watches a game and that's what they get.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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They get a 90 minute experience. You give everything you have. And if on a certain day it's good enough, great. And if on a certain day it isn't, okay. But the amount of times that these athletes feel compelled to explain themselves and explain performances. They have to learn to let things live where it's going to be.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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When they say something, as long as it's thought out and maybe fact-checked with their agent or their manager or their best friend that they trust, let it live out there. This constant internet, social media battle isn't healthy for players.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
I can write the foreword if there's enough coin involved. Keep going.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Yeah, The Keeper by Tim Howard. It's still on shelves. You can get it by Christmas Eve if you'd like. Did y'all set this up, by the way, Jordan? Did he tell you to ask this? No, listen, listen. I'll be honest. The book I wrote is great. If you have trouble sleeping, if you tuck into chapter one about 10 o'clock, it'll put you right to sleep.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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My favorite book was Roy Keane's autobiography, and I think he wrote two. But he's one of the most fascinating, amazing human beings I've ever been around, one of the greatest players, top. three that I've ever played with. I mean, I think the world of him on and off the pitch. And, um, I remember having his book and, and, and I was in the main address room. I was a kid.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And I remember, I think he, he, he joked about having like boxes of, of his books still like in his car, in the trunk of his car. And I remember saying like, you know, you know, can I, can I have a, can I have a book please? You know? And he's like, he brought me the book in the next day. And I was like, could you sign it? He's like, to you? I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, to me, to me.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And so he signed it. But anyway, in that book, he talks about, it's one of the craziest, greatest stories that I, football stories is when he tore his cruciate ligament making a run in the penalty area in Alfie Holland. Erland Holland's father at the time stood over him and told him to get up and told him that he was faking. And a lot of people won't agree with this or think it's okay.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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These are, like, high-level soccer fans who are dealing with this and moms and dads who have their kids in soccer are dealing with it. And it's like, it's really interesting some of these conversations that we're going to be able to get into because they're going to be very, I think, informative. And I've talked to, as an example, the promotion relegation thing.
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And maybe I don't either, other than the fact that it speaks to who Roy Keane is as a person. He spent a year
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know eight months to a year rehabbing a cruciate ligament and he comes back and most of the time for all most players and human beings that the anger towards an individual would subside right after a year yeah you want to get back on the pitch and Roy lined Alfie Holland up and snapped his leg and looked at looked at him stood over him and
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said some things that maybe Alfie Holland said to Roy a year before. And he took his armband off, accepted the red card, and he walked off the pitch. And whether we like that or not, we're not teaching you to be overaggressive and snap people's legs. But the fact of the matter was, he's different. And I love the fact that I play with him and have the book. Great book.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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No, no, no.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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You got a book and a hat coming. What's your favorite? You read a lot of soccer books in general.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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I'm on one side of the argument, but you know what? I've had conversations, as I mentioned, where I've been talked off that side to the other. So like, it's so complex, but also fun for our listeners as well.
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Yeah, I mean, I think the easy answer is this space is really an awesome space to be in. It allows for freedom of kind of connectivity and expression. And I think when it, more than anything, podcasts allow you to build a community, right? And this is what we're doing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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It allows you to kind of have this steady stream every single week and a touch point for us with each other and our listeners, but for...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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our listeners and viewers uh back to us as well right and there's this constant communication and collaboration and um you know when it comes when it comes to talking soccer it's it's what everybody wants to do and we we're very fortunate to be a part of that also you know the logistics are there's a lot of podcasts out there that aren't done very well and and being a part of a
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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good team is something landon and i have always hung our hat on on and off the field and so when sinclair came and said that they have the right formula to create a successful podcast and they wanted landon and i um you know the relationship between between the three groups just seemed to mesh so yeah but most importantly it's community it's just like we're you know as we build this thing the unfiltered soccer community is going to be the largest in america and we're going to have the loudest voice and so we're just happy to take that journey with you
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Yeah, great explanation in terms of taking us down that road. What I would say about the Spain game was... When you're in South Africa, or depending on geography, you feel a million miles away, right? And South Africa felt a million miles away. You know where you are on the map, but you're also like, You're together in this hotel for a month, and you just feel far away, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And so there's so much camaraderie. And we barely, as Landon said, squeaked by getting the Egypt result. I don't think we were playing brilliant football in that tournament. In fact, I think we got battered in our opening game. But we go into this Spain game, and now everyone knows, like, we're not under any illusions. at the training table, in the training room, on the training ground.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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We know what's going to happen. We understand how great this Spain team is. And to just explain to the listeners, this wasn't a fluke. This Spain team didn't go... Uh, it's, it's the, it's the U S we'll roll over there. Maybe they thought that, but they didn't perform that way. We hit him. We, we smacked them in the teeth and they didn't like it. And Josie, Josie was rolling.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Josie out the door was putting world-class center backs on his back and turning them and rolling. And by the way, it wasn't because they didn't decide to turn up. It's because Josie was strong. He was an ox. And on that day, he gave it to him. Clint Dempsey, he was another one. He produced magic. I think Charlie Davis was on the team. We earned every ounce of that.
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And the craziest thing for me is like in the moment, like explain to our listeners, you're trying, I can speak for myself. I'm desperately trying to stay in the moment because I am feet fluttering off the ground, mind racing, like we could do this. And I'm like, no, no, no, we haven't done anything. Like get back to the moment, right? There's still 25 minutes left.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
And then five minutes goes by and another shot goes. And then you start to think, oh, we could win this. And this constant trying to refocus my mind to be like, Stop thinking about this monumental achievement you're about to create and focus on the moment. And then ultimately, I think the biggest, as amazing as that is as players and Landon will attest to this,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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People have been asking for the last 20 years, when's the U.S. going to win a major tournament? That question is going to get asked 500 trillion million billion times over the next 18 months. We had a chance. We were up 2-0, I think, against Brazil, right, with 45 minutes to go. We had the opportunity to be that team. And look, Brazil was just freaking incredible too, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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But that's the takeaway is that that game was just so – Um, so incredible because we, we, we shouldn't have been there. We shouldn't have been in that moment and we shouldn't have performed the way we did, but that's the beautiful ball.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Yeah, I mean, I think for me, that's it. To grow this show organically with our listeners, create that community. For me, two things stand out for the new year. definitely want to do a live show. I want to take the show on the road. I want to be amongst our people.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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I want to feel that energy of what a live show is like, whether that's a Q&A or a moderated session or just Landon and I rapping and doing it in front of a live audience. I know what that energy feels like, and I know it's going to be just awesome for everybody involved. So that's going to be a huge undertaking, but also one that
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again continue and again continues to build community get it get some merchandise out there make sure everybody's waving it around um excited about that i'm also excited about about bringing on and we talk about how i think we had a question recently jordan about like how do we continue to build this momentum of soccer in america and build this community like i'm excited to bring on um
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
some cross-cultural guests on the show, right? That want to get into soccer or have invested in soccer or have some sort of tie to soccer, but they're not soccer people. And I want to hear what their journey is like and kind of share that with you all and get a chance to understand how far we have and that reach we have.
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Well, that's what, that's what, that's what you all need to send us in some things we missed or your favorite shithousery moments. Hit us at unfilteredsoccer.com. Look for me, if the category is going to be named best shithousery, um, I do think like your name is on the MLS MVP trophy.
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Yeah, thanks so much, everybody. And thank you to our presenting sponsor, VW. Have a great week. Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Happy Kwanzaa. Whatever you're celebrating, do it with love with your family and others. We'll be back next Tuesday with another edition of Unfiltered Soccer.
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I think Jamie Vardy's name has to be on the trophy because like this guy who I played against, by the way, in the Premier League winning season of 2016, he just drinks Red Bull and is up for a fight. Like that's what he does. His team's down 2-0. No problem. He's going to run the line. He's going to be nicking balls off. He's going to go down in the box. Like he...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
The fact that he scored and then celebrated that with Spurs fans and gave him a bit like, I love that. I love that. And also, by the way, it's Jamie Vardy. That's what I expect from him.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Yeah, it's because of how she grew up and it's actually in that area. But yeah, it was a special show.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Did you cover Spain at the Euros at all?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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They were special. They were so fun to watch. They were fun to watch. Without massive names. Correct. Big names, but not the traditional. I mean, Bayer Leverkusen for me under Xavi Alonso has just been so impressive. With the young manager playing progressive football, taking on German players. footballing giants in Munich and Dortmund and did it unapologetically.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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But for me, for me, you know, because I get a vote, as I keep saying, it's our show, the US women's national team winning gold, it's, it's so difficult because of the standard that they set it, if they don't win a gold medal or a World Cup, it's a catastrophe. Literally, the team gets ripped up and questions are asked and manager gets changed. And like,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
It's incredible. And I, you know, when I, whenever I get a chance to speak to some of the women players, just offline, it's like that mentality of always number one, going in and having to win. And then by the way, when you do win, it's like, Yeah, that's kind of what you're supposed to do. Like, it's almost, it's such a thankless position when you set such a high standard.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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But for them to do it again and again, and to kind of rebound, right? Like, to get back to the footballing summit, I thought it was awesome. Always exciting to watch them. And doesn't, you know, my daughter, who is, you know, as you know, a soccer player and going to play in college next year, like... we get an opportunity together to like cheer this team on and wear the jerseys and go crazy.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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So it's always fun.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Yeah, I thought it was awesome. Moving it along, biggest shock of the year. Now, this category is interesting because there's a couple of things. Whatever shocks you is fine. Winning, losing, that type of thing. In the category, we have Manchester City. Take that how you want it. The fact that they've won the title last year, last season, and now they're in the position that they're in.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Nottingham Forest in fourth place in the Premier League. Massive, massive, massive shock. Chelsea in the Premier League, where they are second, chasing a title after just things being upside down for the last couple of years. Atlanta knocks off Inter-Miami and Messi in the playoffs, first round.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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That blew our mind. No one saw that coming. San Marino, the lowest ranked FIFA national team, breaks a 20-year losing streak.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
I'm thinking there's a zero.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
When they put that on there, I was like, what? If it was a two-year losing streak, we'd think it was good. 20-year losing streak.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And a 1-0 win over Liechtenstein. So... Talk to me.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
You're the biggest shock. It's all yours.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Golf clap for it. Did you buy it? I asked you if you bought it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Yeah, look, the Tim Weah red card, as you said, he's still a young player. And that's such a big moment. And I know he felt it in a heavy way. And he's bounced back. And it's amazing how quickly you can mature from these things. So that's an interesting one. Look, I'm not sure. The Canada drone scandal, it could actually fall in best shithousery. It really could. I mean, here's what I would say.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Here's what I would say. There's legalities and lawsuits. I'm going to say CONCACAF, don't you dare. Don't you dare start making scapegoats out of Canada. They might've done wrong. They might've done wrong. But you and I have been in Azteca. Yeah, we've been in El Salvador. We've been in San Pedro Sula in Honduras. We've been in Jamaica.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
There's a whole lot of folks at our training match day minus one that ain't supposed to be there. And they pretend to have other jobs around the stadium, but I can assure you there's one job that they have. So before we go picking and choosing who we're going to blame and who we're going to bring scandals upon, and yes, Canada, if you messed up, then shame on you and you should be dealt with.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
We need more soccer.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
But deal with everybody, CONCACAF.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
I love it. Please just spin around. Let me see a little bit of the back. All right. It's all stitched and everything. We got a great show today. This is going to be fun. We're going to go a little off kilter, rip up the format a little bit, and we're just going to talk about some interesting things about the show so far and things to look ahead as we end the year in football.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
The Unfiltie Awards, 2025 Soccer Predictions, & 2009 Confederations Cup Reflections
Your penalty gets saved the next day.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Keep the ball out of the net, because there's a lot of goalkeepers that I see today who are brilliant footballers, but they might as well have their gloves on the other hand, because they can't, they couldn't save the stand.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Cause by the way, if I see the same thing, this is good. Right.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Yeah. I think, I think we will see, I'd be surprised if we didn't see that partnership.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
But also, if you have bad things to say, send them in. We like reading those, too. No problem.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Um, yeah, look, I, it's always interesting because I think, you know, he's at a club. Juventus is, is one of the most historic clubs in world football, right? Like that's not, that's not overstating it. And yet the premier league in and of itself, the prestige and the money, uh, It's so high that players... It's so tempting. It's so tempting.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
So do I think... But you remember, he also, as well as he's doing at events, he also goes to Everton and straight away, he's the main man. Straight away. Right? And so... Yeah, probably. So that is tempting as well. Probably more money. Probably... really easy to be tempted. I sat in a, I sat in a hotel lobby, um, an unnamed hotel lobby with, with David Moyes back in 2006.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
And he convinced me the place for me to be was Everton. And I was playing at a historic club at Manchester United in and out. And he said, here's the keys to the car. You can play 40 games next year. And I went, all right, what do I sign? So if it's, if it's a room rate, I'll stay that as, as now, but, uh, I think it'll be interesting.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Well, look, there have been outspoken critics of you and I on this show, wrongfully so, but outspoken critics that will, you know, when we talk about when you go to Europe, and you're not playing, and you should be one of the better players in the US Men's National Team, a move back to the MLS makes a ton of sense for a ton of reasons.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
And so we will probably be seeing this over the next 18 months in the lead up to the World Cup. And look, I'm excited for him and for the US Men's National Team.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Yeah. Success. Huge success. I mean, we've been talking about January camp. We dove in in a previous episode. What does it mean? What are the takeaways? What are the hopes? You tell me. I think this was like a 10 out of 10 January camp.
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The Unfiltered Soccer Podcast is brought to you by Volkswagen, the presenting partner of U.S. Soccer.
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From performances, which we'll get into, from results, to the positivity that we see in the players' performances, the positivity that Pochettino is showing us in the press and the media, this feels like it couldn't have gone any better. And so, again, hats off to US Soccer, to Pochettino, and all the players. I mean, I think about, like, Diego Luna. This is how you impress your new manager.
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It's time for the Fan Connection presented by AT&T. Every week, we invite you, the listener, to connect with us by submitting your questions. The best way to grow the game of soccer in the U.S. is to keep asking questions and keep talking about the sport we all love. At AT&T, connecting changes everything. And on USLNT, our connections with you will help grow the game. Jordan, where you at?
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Get on in here. You got questions for us.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Are you prepared? Are you prepared? Are they prepared? I don't know if anyone's prepared. Hey, you come at the king, don't miss.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Yes. That's great. Here's the thing. Here's the thing. We're both very well-rounded and huge sports fans. And it's funny because when you get certain personalities who play a sport, people think that they don't have opinions on other sports and they do.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Like I've got friends in the NBA and NFL and I get a lot of inside scoop on a lot of those things. So like I, and I'm a fan more than anything. So like we have an opinion, we're going to give it, but always appreciate the feedback.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
We want you to listen all the way through.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Who sent that in?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Jordan, I live the days when Bob Bradley had the world-beating Chicago Fire in 1998. I mean, they were incredible. And Bob Bradley set an amazing standard. for that city and club. So yeah, be better. And we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll get in, we'll get into it. Landon will mention the galaxy for sure. And I'll try and talk him off that, but well, they are the champions.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
You and I talked about it. Like, what are you going to do to just get into the manager's view? Like, what are you going to do? I mean, he takes an elbow to the face, breaks his nose, blood everywhere, literally pleads with the manager to stay in the game. Medical staff clears him, and then he goes back in and sets up Ryan White's goal. You know? So, like, that... I mean, again...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
I like it. I mean, I think this... And we love all the feedback. And what we do on this podcast is we try and service what most everybody wants to hear. Now... your point against up and coming up and coming USL players is, is well taken. And, and certainly we can touch on that, but the fact of the matter is, you know, the most of my life was spent in England with Everton and Manchester United.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
And the fact of the matter is the, the, in this Premier League is the,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
is the most successful most watched league in the world so we have to touch on that and and it's exciting and the world the world-class players and drama so um most of our fans do want to hear about that but that's certainly a really really well taken point um and finally my personal favorite last piece of feedback all caps nobody cares
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Fair enough. Ratings would say someone cares, but this person, let me guess.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
I'm sure they put their name. Of course they put their name. Every review is an engagement. I'll say that a couple more times, but thank you. I do. I think the smoke is important. Good and bad feedback. So that's what makes us, that's what challenges us. So appreciate that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Or no parameters. I would say this one's pretty easy for me to get three.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
I would say... Men, Mount Rushmore is Landon, Clint, myself, and four is harder for me.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
I tend to lean towards Claudio Reyna.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
I tend to lean towards him. So that would, that would more than likely be my four bees. DeMarcus Beasley. Certainly.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
In that conversation, in that conversation. But that, if you're asking me for my four, um, it's Landon, Clint, myself and Claudia.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
And if we're doing women, I would say Mia, Abby. Hmm. Jeez, this gets tough now.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
I feel like the women are way harder. They've been so much more successful. And you've had… Our US women have…
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
constantly been in the world's greatest player conversation year on year right like yeah we haven't we haven't earned that right as the men so like i think i think of this isn't just a goalkeeper me but like hope solo um you know she what she did on the field for the national team but like astounding um Alex Morgan. Alex Morgan. Like just so many names. Like it's really, really difficult.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Couldn't be more proud as a fan watching the game, as an analyst, as you and I analyze the game. This is perfect. I mean, the manager couldn't talk highly enough about his players. Fantastic. Well done.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Michelle Akers has to be on there. Mia has to be on. Mia Hamm has to be on there. Yeah. Carly. Yeah. I mean, Carly for sure.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Oh, yeah. Yeah, definitely. For sure. I think if Christian Pulisic even, yeah, if he even just rides out the rest of his career doing what he's doing now, he's on Russia. But then who does he replace? You're looking at him, pal. I'm looking directly at him. He's in San Diego right now. Right at him. That little golden cat behind you. Big forehead right there. Good conversation. Love that question.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
I'm uncomfortable right now.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
LD, bloody heck, I have seen you so many times recently.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Communication is key. I mean, you just hit the nail on the head. So often in a team, in any business or even family, but in a team, the lack of communication, when it all gets said and done, you're like, wait a minute, we do want the same things. It's crazy. It's crazy. Great story.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Yeah, that's a good question about the eligibility. I'm going to lean on one of our other producers in the chat to tell me that. But the interesting part about it is I was in studio during that game, and I remember... coming away from it thinking this kid's really good. Like he has, he, based on the background, he hadn't played a lot of football, you know, for, for being, I think he's 25.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
He hadn't played a lot of first team football, like at all, not even at Spurs, like just hadn't been on loan or like normally like a younger keeper who's maybe third or fourth, um, we'll go on loan. Um, and it does, it does look like he's eligible. Um, And they'll get games at a lower division. I think he went to Orlando at one point and played a bit.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
But irregardless of that, steps in with no sort of notice, plays in the Premier League. And I remember thinking, wow, he's given a really good account of himself. His movement, his saves, his aerial ability, distribution, all in this 90-minute snippet. I mean it. I'd be shocked even given Pochettino Spurs connections. He must certainly be on the radar, but time will tell.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Annie.
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Yeah. I think my history with the rivalry dates back to being a young kid and being a fan. And watching our men's national team in 1989, I remember Paul Calgary's goal in Trinidad. Grainy TV. I either watched it or watched some sort of VHS replay of it. And... Those U.S. teams were my heroes, and they got steamrolled. Everywhere they went, they got steamrolled.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
And Mexico, they weren't just the best. They were a dominant beast in the CONCACAF region. We couldn't touch them. We couldn't touch them tactically. We couldn't touch them technically. They were so superior to us. Their football IQ was... another world. We, we, we couldn't, we couldn't touch them. And then, and then late into, you know, I'm thinking of Claudia Reina wearing a captain's armband.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
I'm thinking like Fox ball. I'm thinking of different games, but like we started to, we started to punch above our weight a little bit and we started to not be dominant, but leaving a foot in the door and feeling like we, we can win some games. And so my, so my, Love for that rivalry started early on as a young soccer player and as a fan.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
And then when you're immersed into it, if you are me or if you're Landon, you realize playing for your national team is amazing. That first U.S.-Mexico game, you'll never forget because you remember thinking, we have to win this game. this is how we'll be measured. And I grew to hate the Mexican team and the players.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
And I needed to put myself in that headspace in order to compete because that game was nasty. They would leave something on you. They would be nasty and physical. And what you realize is they felt us coming. They felt us gaining an advantage and they didn't like that. And when you're the best, which Mexico was for a long time, you don't like that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
And so they tried everything to subdue our progress, which is natural. And in the time that I started my national team career and finished it, the US became the dominant team in the region. And that balance of power shifted and they didn't like it. And I think what I learned
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
probably towards the back end of my career is in order in sports in order to hate something so much you lose sight of the fact of how much respect you have for them and I I was able to get myself to a place on the surface that I hated playing Mexico so much and I hated the I made myself hate them and their fans and their players and
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
And then when I took a step back, I realized it's because I had so much respect for who they were, for the way they wore the green jersey, for the way the fans supported their team. And I love it. I'm getting goosebumps now thinking about playing in Columbus, playing in Azteca. I mean, there is nothing, and I'll speak for Landon on this, there is nothing you can do in life that gives you
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
That gives you that feeling, that, that, that fear, that anxiety, that joy, that pain, nothing, nothing. I mean, it was, um, you know, there's famous memes of me crying after, after a Mexico loss. That's how much it meant to me. Um, they should have memes about all the times I whipped up on that, but, but, um, it brought me, it brought me incredible joy as well. So, um, yeah, it's a special one.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
I usually don't enjoy that. But we've been knocking out a bunch of episodes recently, giving the fans what they want.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Yeah, really thoughtful answer. I'm on, you know, I think mental health is important. I went through a long stretch where I didn't, believe in using a sports psychologist and I never did. I respected certain sports psychologists that worked within our team and our framework. And I was a part of group meetings, but I would never go to a sports psychologist.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
I just went to a dark place and I don't think that that's healthy, but it made me successful. And so there's a balance. And if I could do it all over again, uh, my career, I would probably, um, I would probably do it the same way. I, I, again, I, in order to perform at the level that I did and to, uh, hear the criticism and block it out. I had to turn into somebody different.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Pause for a second because you bring up a good point. This is not for this episode, but God, we need more players like that in America. Amen, dude. We do. Our players, because of the youth system, which we continue to promise we'll get into, our players are so pampered. My daughter, God bless her, she is the most amazing little girl in the world. She knows. Get up. Don't matter. Get up.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
I had to disassociate. And I, and, and I went to, I went to, you know, mentally a lot of dark places to get myself on the field. I don't mean dangerous. Well, I don't mean dangerous, harmful places per se. I just had to, I lost a lot of friends. I blocked a lot of people out, lost a lot of, a lot of family. And, and, um, but, but it, it's, it hardens you and LD, you said it right. Like it's,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
it's a balance because a lot of that does create resilience. And I know, I know 1000% I was more successful in my career because I had that mentality. And look, I think the mental health side of society has gotten, has gotten better in terms of help and the ability to have the conversation openly. And that's crept into sports, which is a, which is a wonderful thing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
You know, I, this is, this isn't right or wrong. I oftentimes say, If we looked at the best team in the Premier League or best team in MLS and you had a player who in certain moments wasn't necessarily always available mentally in the big moments when you know that there's going to be 50,000 people and you're going through a tough spell.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
that manager might say, Hey, please go, you know, absolutely go speak to the psychologist and take the time you need, but I'm not picking you. I can't pick you. And that's, that, that sucks to hear, but that's also, that's also a part of the conversation. So I think there needs to be resources at clubs and there are that help players get through challenges.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
But yeah, when, when push comes to shove, it is, it is about, And Landon, you hit the nail on the head. This isn't, for the faint of heart, like sports, when we sign up for it, that part of it is they ask us to deal with it. They ask Landon to deal with it. No one ever says to the press, I want you to stop writing bad stuff about Tim Howard. Right.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
They don't like, they don't, they don't regulate that. Right. Cause the press is freedom to do that. They say Tim Howard deal with it. Right. So if you're going to want to become a professional athlete, we had this question, I think in a mailbag a few weeks ago, like if you want to become a professional athlete at that level, it's daunting and it's scary and it's not going to change. Right.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
And so you have to try and look after your mental health, but that can be done in a multitude of ways.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Yeah, I've got quite a few. I think I swapped one with... I, like you, was, I love the tradition that soccer started hundreds of years ago about swapping jerseys as a sign of respect. I swapped with Wayne Rooney in the World Cup, which was pretty awesome because he was an Evertonian. I played with him at Manchester United. And so that was cool.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
When all these other parents are going, referee, that's a purple card or a yellow card or a red card. Get up. Get up. The next time someone hits the ground, it ain't you. And she's tough as nails. And this isn't about my daughter, but it's about young...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
You know, I swapped with, I think, Clint Dempsey when he was at Spurs. I swapped with Carlos Bocanegra, who's one of my best friends, when he was at Fulham. So, yeah, the American guys, particularly over in the Premier League when we were playing, was awesome. Was fun, but yeah, certainly Rooney's is up there.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
You know what? My first car.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
you know you know people are like wrap their cars now ld where like they'll get a matte finish yeah well i had a 1984 nissan sentra and it had a matte finish but it wasn't a wrap it was like that was the color it was gray my dad uh my my dad got it for me um i think he paid like 800 bucks for it seriously 800 bucks for it stick shift no one knows how to drive stick shift anymore it was amazing that was absolutely amazing my only memories are like getting locked out of it because i didn't have there was no remote key it was just like
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
somehow figure out how to get a hanger in the door and unlock it. That was about it. That's so ghetto. Yeah. That's where I lived.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
athletes soccer players being tough as nails you need it and they're pampered in this country so well done to him it's really good to see him and look i think on the game when you do the job you're asked to do you give yourself a chance like if you're a striker score the goals that's right if you're a goalkeeper keep a clean sheet if you're a defender head it and kick it connect passes like do what you're asked to do and you'll have you'll have an opportunity um you know i think of um
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Follow up. What's the first car you bought yourself?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
What about you? Yeah. Eddie Bauer edition Ford Explorer two-door. It was gorgeous. It was awesome. Amazing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Yeah, thanks, everyone, so much. Always enjoy our time with you. Thank you so much to our presenting sponsor, VW, and our fan connection sponsor, AT&T. Have an amazing week. We'll see you all next Tuesday for another edition of Unfiltered Soccer.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Ajumeng, Patrick Ajumeng, he's gotten, gets put in the game, gets a goal, right? Gets put on late, gets a goal.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Yeah, two and two. So by the way, is he going to start in the World Cup? I think the odds are against him, but you know what he does? He gives himself a really good opportunity because what he has, as you know, we hate these individual meetings. No matter what they say to him, he could say, okay, I'm going to work on it. But by the way, when you put me in, I score.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
We see this with Ricardo Pepe, which I love. I in a sub put me in a score. So players really put themselves in a good place. And you know what it does LD, it gives them an opportunity. To compete with the best, right? This isn't the A-team. Well, some players are, but this isn't the A-team for the U.S. men. But what it does do is it gets them into an A-team camp.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
And now they can compete and show themselves.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Yep.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Zach was brilliant last night, man of the match. It's interesting because Pochettino is showing me what I think I already knew is he's not lazy when it comes to player selection. In this country, we get lazy. I see it. You see it at every level. A guy has a falling out with another coach and then the next coach comes in and just kind of follows suit. I've said all along, the U.S.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
You know what's funny, LD? I love how much we talk about the US Men's National Team because it's what everybody wants to hear. And so the challenge of always making sure that we're getting up-to-date episodes after every US Men's National Team game is fun and challenging and looking forward to this.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
has one and a half top-level international goalkeepers. If Matt Turner and Zach Steffen are both playing at the highest possible level they can compete at, then we have two. That's it. We've got some good goalkeepers in the pipeline, sure, but none that can start in a World Cup, plain and simple. And for me, I've always said Zach Steffen in his toolbox possesses more talent than any U.S.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
goalkeeper in the history of the U.S. men's national team. Putting that all together is the challenge for any goalkeeper. And I just love, LD, that Pochettino gave him an opportunity. He took the opportunity. And when I start to look at... things that Pochettino said, it speaks to Zach being in that window. He's going to get opportunities. Look, I do. I think Matt Turner's very good.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
He's not playing. What happens between now and the World Cup, I think he'll have to make decisions that will impact his international future. But, Zach, when you talk to the goalkeeper coach at Man City under Pep, And I've said this before. He talks about goalkeepers playing big and playing small. Right? Zach Steffen, he said, plays big. He naturally does things that keeps his team in the game.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
And Pochettino said that. I feel like we can trust him. He made big saves. Amazing saves. And I think that's what Zach does. You know, I even think about the... the minutiae of goalkeeping, right? They want to play. You saw they take the ball at the back. They play to the goalkeeper. They play through the center backs. They take risks.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
There were moments where I'm watching the game and teams overpass. There were moments where I thought to myself, this ball's coming back to him. I see angles. He's getting closed down. He's probably going to be asked to play another pass. And he made a bold decision. And he said, I'm putting my foot through it. We're going to move our lines.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
That might not be the perfect pass that the manager wants, but I'm going to play mistake-free football. I thought it was a fantastic performance. When I speak to Chris Sharp at Colorado, his goalkeeper coach, he says he's in a great place. His training has been good. He speaks to him every day. This performance doesn't surprise me.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Listen, I mean, one caveat to end the goalkeeping part. I think I know a lot about goalkeeping, but there's a lot of people who continually beat me over the head and they try and tell me, no, you have to be good with the goalkeeper. And you just heard it from a genius in football terms, Pochettino. Keep the ball out of the net. Yes, connect passes when it needs to. Keep the ball out of the net.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Because there's a lot of goalkeepers that I see today who are brilliant footballers, but they might as well have their gloves on the other hand because they couldn't save a stamp. So, yeah, end of story. Pochettino said it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Yeah, we did.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
And what did he say?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
He's a genius. Thank you. But no, I thought the same thing. I have a feeling. that after the 2026 World Cup, Poch is going to have, at a minimum, two favorite players to displace us. But, because he's got some fantastic players.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
So you're out. I'm still in.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
I'm proud. And I think we have to say there's a lot of things broken on the machine that is soccer in America, but we got to give credit all the time when great things happen. You're right. I just remember thinking like, when a guy would play in Champions League, right? And you're talking about Claudia Reina played and Bees was playing. And it was like, oh my God, it's amazing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
It was such a novelty. It was Christmas morning. One of our guys was playing. And now, like, it's old hat for these guys. 34 appearances by American players. 34 starts. Incredible. Starts. I mean, to those players who are starting in...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
playing in champions league like hats off to you man what what an incredible achievement and by the way for it to the greatest compliment we could give to american soccer is that yeah you you want it you're going to turn on champions league midweek and you're going to see a u.s player and that's just normal like holy hell how did that that's awesome yeah so for celtic let's dive in a little deeper so cameron carter vickers and austin trusty were the center back pairing yeah
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
Wait, I think I wrote that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
There's an argument. Yeah. As you, as you mentioned, football is about partnerships all over the pitch. Like how do you link up with the striker, the midfield, the six and the eight, the two center backs, the wing backs pulling in. It's always about partnerships left and right side. And what I would say is yes, this helps Carter Vickers and trustee.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Diego Luna Goes Hard, Zack Steffen's Clean Sheet, USMNT's Centerback Pairing & An Extended Mailbag
I would be shocked because in today's coaching, nothing, nothing gets past you. I would be shocked if in the upcoming games, I don't know when I can't name the game that if, if CCV and Austin trustee aren't partnered together in the center of the U S defense, because I think pot Pochettino will, we'll go, well, I see it there. I want to see here.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Yeah. I mean, look, you hit the nail on the head with the Walker Zimmerman thing. You and I are two old guys who have the number one soccer podcast in America. That's fine. But guess what? Walker Zimmerman was in the trenches. When we start talking about like, hey, this is what I think, but I don't know what's happened on the inside.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Walker Zimmerman just told us, not just a couple months ago, told us what's happened on the inside. Now, he's not a part of really the setup anymore, but these are the same guys who he was in the dressing room with. And so that was a direct hit. He didn't have to say that, by the way. There was a whole bunch of other avenues he could have went with Sam Borden about the young players.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
But he took the opportunity to take a stand and leave a little bit of a marker on with these guys. And so, look, that obviously is cause for concern. I think it needs to happen soon. What I would say about the Gold Cup is I would even take your point. I would even go the other way, and here's why. I look at the lineups, and we'll get to the lineups of the Panama game and the Canada game.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
We're not good enough, Landon. We've never been good enough. And I don't see a time in the future where we will be good enough to not constantly play your best players. And you know what? When you need to give a, I hate using this, like a throwaway cap, or I need to see a guy to see if he can perform at this level. You do that after you've had a successful run of like six, seven games.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Okay, now this feels like a lesser opponent. We'll plop a few guys in. We'll chop and change. But they don't get that right. The best, you should have your best 11 available. Okay, Anthony Robinson's example wasn't there. Serginio Dest, not there. No problem. But your best current 11? should be playing back-to-back-to-back-to-back games.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Like, the best 11, there shouldn't have been as many changes. I'm questioning the manager. He might have other reasons. He might have needed to see players. I'm simply saying we're not good enough to do that. We've got to figure, like, our goal cup should be our best 11-13 players. Everybody else, go sit over there. I'll let you know when it's time for, okay, we're up 4-0. Here's five minutes.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Like, We don't have any time. We don't have any time. And I was worried about this going into the last World Cup. I remember saying, our best players have not played together, whether that be through injury or the club versus country. They haven't played. So you get into a World Cup and your best players haven't played together. This is an issue.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
This is an issue because I said, once the Gold Cup comes, there's no more measuring stick. There's no more opportunity to get the guys together and go, huh, I wonder how a group of our best players are going to perform in a tournament. Because normally you'd have Gold Cup, then you'd have World Cup qualifying. We don't have it. It's a broken record.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
So if that doesn't happen, and I know you said about omissions, and I get sending a message, I almost think it's too late to send a message. We don't have the time.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Maybe. But I've said to you in the past, and I've been very open with this publicly. In America… Our best 13 players are our best 13 players. That's it. If they're not performing, if they don't care, if the crest doesn't mean anything, fine. Put somebody else in, but they're not up to standard.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Now, when you go to Holland, or you go to Spain, or you go to Brazil, and you go, oh, this guy's chucked it in. No problem, because I got a striker. Yeah, he won't play again. I got a striker at Liverpool who's banging goals and knocking down the door. Fine. We don't have that. I've said this all along. Our best 13 players... That's it. There's a massive decline after you get past that. There is.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
So like... Yeah, I guess you can send a message and you can play guys who care more. But you're going to lose something somewhere. And I just... Yeah, it worries me. It worries me.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Yeah, yeah. I mean, look, I know you're going to take us to break in a second, but look, let me just finish on this. You pointed out the person you spoke to today, the U.S. identity. There are so many coaches in this country who are a bunch of jokers who continue to tell me, you know, we play between lines. Yeah, you can have a profile of how you want to play tactically.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
You will never, never convince me that a U.S. team, first and foremost, has to be dominant and nasty and hungry. The football, great. That can be amazing. If we have the football and we don't have the nastiness as a country when we step on the field, we'll never make it. That's our profile. People want to get away from that. Now, do you want to get away from that bunker mentality? Yes, you do.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
But you can never get away from the physicality side of the game as a U.S. player. Because as you mentioned, we fall into that middle ground where we think we're the best, but we're not quite.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Okay, so we had to pause and I had to tell Landon, open the back door, go for a walk. Calm down. I'm so angry.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Well, I do too, but it's not about soccer. Look, I think our fans, our listeners appreciate the passion. I know they do. We're going to dive into a little bit more of the changes, the personnel, what we saw, what we thought, what we think should happen in the future games, which are obviously vitally important being the Gold Cup. So let's kind of take a little bit of a deep dive into that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Yeah, and look, when we break down these lineups, we'll talk goalkeeper in a second, right? But I break down these lineups, and I'm not really so concerned about Scali and Moussa. Moussa is kind of a utility player, right? Which I think hurts him a little bit because he can play as a fullback in a pinch. Robinson and Desk went healthy, locked down on either side. So okay with that, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
You know, I think Chris Richards... is our best center back, and then it's a plus one. Then who plays alongside him in the best games, right? For me, we're missing our strikers. You know, we're missing both of our strikers, which, by the way, at the best of times is still a weak spot for us. So we have to have Ricardo Pepe or Flo Balogun healthy and fit. We don't have that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Um, you know, and, and ultimately I think, I think tactically again with that, with that Jack of all trades, I think Tyler Adams and Weston McKinney have so many good facets to their game that sometimes it's too much here. Here's what I'm saying. There's oftentimes with, with our group, as an example, we were told internally as our group, and you'll probably remember this.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
We can't all go out there. and give all of ourselves because it's going to be too much. It's going to be too robust for the group, right? They needed a little bit less from me, a little bit less from Jermaine Jones, a little bit less from you. Now, we're still going to give 100%, but it's all not going to fit in the box if we're all on a 10, right? And so Weston can drive forward.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
We know Tyler can tackle and spring forward, and they like to get in the box. I genuinely think you get your best goalkeeper in and your best back four, And you tell Tyler and Weston, you're going to sit in a double six and you're going to protect. You're going to protect. Right. Because then what that allows is it allows.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
And that's when you can use their physicality and their ball winning and their ability to pass between lines. Because then that allows you to get your four best attacking players on the field.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Right.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Like in the moment, Weston is considered one of the best attacking players. But this goes back to my original point. We need him to be his best ball-winning, energetic self. Do I think he can make a late run in the box if everything is settled behind him? Sure.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
But I would like to see Weston and Tyler sit as a double six, which would then allow us to get our best four attacking players on the field. That gives Gio Reyna a spot on one side. That gives Weah a spot on the other. Christian Pulisic, it gives him basically a license to roam because he's got two dogs behind him, right? So he can vacate the middle of the park. He can make a run onto the wing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
He can go forward as a double striker. He can go help the midfielders, but he's got two dogs behind him, right? And then ahead of him, you put your best striker, whether that's Ricardo Pepe or, as we said, Flo Balligan. That makes me think, okay, that excites me. That makes me think we have it. But again, I need to see that lineup for 10 games in a row. Consistently. Six games in a row. I mean—
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Look, the goalkeeper is a big talking point. It was a big talking point going into this set of games.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Yeah, I was shocked because I think the world of both Matt and Zach, and I think they are very similar in terms of talent, but they're different from a talent standpoint. But they could both... do a job for you. And the biggest issue, which no one can argue, is that Matt hasn't been playing for his club.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Now, that's not... People will... And they did this with me at the moments when I wasn't playing. They're going to try and pick the bones out of him and go, well, if he was playing, he would have saved this. I don't know. That's somewhat circumstantial. My thought is, you touched on this earlier. If Zach Steffen is in really good form, Which he is.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
They have to win the Gold Cup. After the Gold Cup's over, there's no more competitive games prior to the World Cup. Does anybody understand that?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
And he had a brilliant game leading into this camp for Colorado. Man of the match. I think it was against San Jose or something. I can't remember. And Matt's not playing. But we know Matt is a really good goalkeeper. You don't, as Pochettino, you don't need to see if Matt can perform at this level. What you need to do, put Matt on the bench.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
When he earns his spot, right, and he's playing every week, then you play him for the national team because there's no question on what that Matt Turner can play for the national team. He's played in the World Cup. So you don't actually have to see if he can perform at that level. In fact, you reward the guy in Zach Steffen who's been playing and playing well until the competition heats up.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Now, look, I've been told that the goalkeeper, you know, Zach Steffen got sick. He fell ill before the Canada game, right? And so there's this idea, there's this notion that he wasn't playing against Canada because he fell ill, which is probably right.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
But the fact of the matter is, from what I'm hearing, the goalkeepers that went into camp, there was no discussion of what was going to happen and who was going to play which game.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Whether that be goalkeeper coach or head coach, nobody had spoken to them. That's what I'm hearing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
And the reason that's weird is whether I was a senior established goalkeeper or I was one of the young kids, every time I would go into camp, either a phone call the week before I came into camp or when I landed and we're in a training session, goalkeeper coach or the manager would say, hey, Tim, I'm thinking about playing in the second game. Or that was when I was younger.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Or, hey, we're thinking about... We're thinking about playing someone else in the second game. To which, by the way, when I knew there was a two-game window and the manager was thinking about playing another goalkeeper, you know what I said to him? I went, no, Gaffer, I'm fit. I'm fit and ready. I want to play both games. I lobbied my case. And you know how many times I ended up playing two games?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Because he wanted to give somebody else an opportunity to play it? To hell with them. So it's an interesting one, the goalkeeper.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Okay. Fair, fair.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Yeah, yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
LD, what's happening, bud? Usually we have a little bit of banter at the top. Today feels like a day of mourning. We're not going to banter. No banter for me, bud. There's a lot. No. This is CONCACAF Nations League wrap-up, and it's not a lot of fun. It's not a lot of fun. I'm going to start us off.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. who does Clint Dempsey have a grip of? Who is Michael Bradley kicking on the sideline? Because that wouldn't have went over very well. You know what I mean? Like, I just thought that's an impossibility. And to your point, these guys don't play again anytime soon. The sub was in the 69th minute. And,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Yeah, yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
No apologies.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
And nevermind when they play, by the way, this is a whole concept of playing for the crest. Who cares about your club? Like Pochettino should be trying to win the game, which I know he was right. And that's why he made the substitution. But I'm looking at it thinking this is the strangest substitution in a competitive game that I've seen in a long time. And what was the basis of it?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Yeah, I know. I know.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Because he's so special. I mean, look, the one thing, again, I'll always, if you ever have questions or comments, send them in. If you ever read something and you're like, I can't figure this out. I'm the figured out guru. Let me tell you, because I can read between lines. Just so you know. And Landon said, goalkeepers, we don't do much. That's true. We don't. But we can keep ourselves fit.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Any other soccer player, any other player, if you're fit, you are fit. What it takes to play in a position like you did Landon or anywhere else on the field, essentially you have to be able to run between 10 and 11 K and a certain percentage of that needs to be high intensity sprints. That's not positional. That's every player.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
So when a manager says he's not fit to play in this, you can pick 20 different tactical styles and, the fitness level is the exact same. So you either are fit to run and to play and to jump and to kick, or you're not fit. So, again, I don't even know what that means, what I'm saying.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
I am. Yeah, I hear you. I mean, I think when I look overall at the two games... Massive disappointment. Because here's the thing. This is from an overall view. This is from a fan. Yes, I analyze soccer for a living, but as a fan. I'm hugely disappointed because none of this feels or looks good. U.S. soccer, and I've got some dear friends at U.S. soccer, and they ain't going to want to hear this.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
I'm just saying, in general, Mauricio Pochettino, when he says that, just for our audience, a player is either fit or they're not fit. It's a myth. It's a myth for someone to say he's not fit to play in our style. So there's that. But what I would say is I don't quite know. Matt Turner's not playing, right? And he got to start. I don't know of... I don't know of a professional player, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Because you said he didn't play much. Our producers will tell us exactly how many minutes he played over the course of two games. But what I would say to you, what I would argue to you is, is he fit enough to play two times 90 minutes? If you want to argue no, no. I'll accept that. I'm saying...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
If you're a professional football player and you have a contract as a professional, you are fit enough to – and you're not injured. You're fit enough to at least play 50, 60 minutes over the course of two games.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Minimum. Bare minimum. So I think the selection disappoints me. Gio doesn't disappoint me, but I'm disappointed in the fact that he – If we're giving players opportunity to play and the prerequisite isn't you have to be playing for your club to play for this national team, then I'm disappointed that we didn't see him.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Yeah, so… Me too.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Because otherwise, I mean… Look, let's just hope there's a bigger… But Gio, very much like his father… And you'll probably hate the comparisons. He always gets compared to his father. Very much like his father… has a nasty streak in him. And we saw that. And that's kind of what we've been talking about, you and I, this episode. When he came on, right? And I spoke about it earlier.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
He's laid into one of those players on the sideline, got past him, took his knee off, and then started this confrontation, this kerfuffle of sorts. That's what we wanted to see.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
It's a massive problem. It's a massive problem.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
But, you know, this is a kid. But, yeah, fair enough. He's super talented. He played 21 minutes over the last two games.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Just in the Canada game. So, like, he's got talent. He's got a nasty streak to him. I'm not sure why he's not playing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
It's time for the Fan Connection presented by AT&T. Every week, we invite you, the listener, to connect with us by submitting your questions. The best way to grow the game of soccer in the U.S. is to keep asking questions and keep talking about the sport we all love. At AT&T, connecting changes everything. And on USLNT, our connections with you will help grow the game. It is time, LD.
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CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
The AT&T Fan Connection. One of our favorite times of the week because we get to talk a lot of stuff, nonsense or otherwise, and then our wonderful fans get to write in to us, comment, questions, and concerns.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Have at it. And, you know, Jordan, welcome. Your favorite time of the week, too. What kind of heat you got? A little AS Roma?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
It's crazy.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
It better be. There's no other. What a legend. All right. Really quick. Yes. When Michael Bradley was playing for Roma, I called him and I said, Mike, can you get me a Totti jersey? No, you didn't. Bro. Bro. The next camp, he comes in with a signed Totti jersey. No way. Yeah. What a legend. Yeah, way. Legend, Michael Bradley. Yeah. Wow. Anyway, keep going. Busy, busy, busy.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
You know, I watched the game yesterday. Again, I'm not the crowd control police, but I'm going to continue to wear the hat. There's nobody there. I played in the most bang average summer friendlies at the most terrible time of the day in God knows what city. And there was more people than there was for that game.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
But do you not think that there's a flaw in the hiring process? If as a U.S. Soccer Federation, you pay this five, six million a year for Pochettino and he, okay, yeah, he can bring a staff, but you've got to be able at some point to mandate that, look, we have to, we have to have an American staff.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Not for the sake of having an American, but there has to be some sort of connectivity to… Well, I would just say Tim, too.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
I think Pochettino's all in. You know, it's nice if you get settled here and have roots, but I do think Pochettino is all in, absolutely. And look, the Going back to having an American on staff or in the camp, not just a singular camp, but in the camp, it has to be someone who is committed and dialed into the team because you have to be able to suffer day to day with the team.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
This concept, like, by the way, these current players, as we were, they don't give a good goddamn about me walking into a dress room and telling them what I think and pontificating. In fact, most of them hate what I say on this podcast because nobody wants to, I didn't want to be criticized. I didn't like it. Um,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
So the planning for both the semifinal and the final and third place game were horrific. They're playing in front of nobody.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
It's a miss. I remember, I always remember because I remember looking up to so many of these giant European players. But you remember when Oliver Bierhoff was part of the German setup?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
He was like a go-between. He was like, yeah, he was a manager. A general manager or something. Yeah. And I think we tried that, didn't we? Was it with Brian McBride or whatever? It wasn't Ernie Stewart, but we tried it with some... For whatever reason, that's gone out of the game. But to your point, and the point of the question, there has to be somebody in U.S.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
soccer on the general manager level, the day-to-day, and maybe that's Oguchi Onyewu. I know there's some people there, but...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
It always falls on the players, and here's why. I'm talking specifically with your country. You don't get to play for your country very often. You get to play for your country 10 days out of every year. Okay? When... If you're talking about the mundane of playing in the Premier League and then...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Okay.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
and then a cup game in the midweek, and then another game, and then you're like, oh, it's dark and it's dreary. It rains every day. Maybe the manager, every now and again, you need a swift kick up the backside. Sure. Absolutely. I always believe a player should be self-motivated. Certainly the leadership core should motivate the group.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
But when you play for your country, it has nothing to do with the manager. You have to envision a scenario of, holy heck, we don't know where the manager is, but we're kicking off in two hours. You go to that game without your manager, it doesn't change anything. Yeah, you're right. It doesn't change how – It wouldn't change a damn thing. It wouldn't change your mentality.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
It has nothing to do – your manager can't save you when you walk across the lines. Only the 11 guys that are on the field can give that effort. It's amazing to me that we are talking about effort. And not just us, because apparently fans of the show and the fans of the U.S. Men's National Team are also talking about this. So people are seeing it. And that's a crime. It really is.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Jesse's got a real buy-in. Jesse's got a real buy-in from that group. Jesse's a good manager. He is one of the most stand-up human beings that I've ever met. And he, in that group, you know, whatever they're cooking over there, They look at the U.S. and we are their number one target. And they play like it. They perform like it. Even Jesse, you know, Jesse's very calculated. I'm not surprised.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Yeah, of course.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
I'm sure he didn't want to be sent off, but he knows how to motivate his team. And fair play. Hats off to Jesse Marshall and the Canadian team. And not just for this game, the way they've been going over the last year or so.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Of course.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Who asked that question?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Incredible question. Incredible question. I mean, think about— It could be because Landon was quick to correct and say, like, it's not on USAR, it's on CONCACAF, and I agree. Can we for a second, like, stop it? Like, we're 12 months away almost from a World Cup. We're showcasing our nation. Totally. This is the CONCACAF Nations League in one of the biggest cities in America. You watch the game.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
How can FIFA or CONCACAF or US or whomever, how can they live with this? How can they be okay with this? Because by the way, we're showcasing what America can do is what we do best. No one puts on live sporting events like we do. dot, dot until it comes to the nation's league. Like it's crazy. It's a great question. I'm sure they'll, I'm sure they'll post.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
And I know so far, by the way, I've been there for the Superbowl. It's huge. I get it. It's freaking ginormous. And I'm sure they'll post numbers that say there was, I don't know, one of our producers can get us a number. I'm sure it'll be, there was 35,000 people there.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
The Revs fans. The Revs fans. We're already public enemy number one.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Play it somewhere else then. Yeah, but again, okay, Landon, you said that you and Sakharov took a little bit. But I'm also saying, hang on. It's a CONCACAF thing. If it's in Jamaica, it's like, oh, it's in Jamaica. That's your fault. This is U.S. soccer's problem.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Well, yeah, okay, I'll go first. So as I'm thinking about this episode, this could change, but I don't think it will. I'm going to be, I think I got really excited about the Nations League. I did. I'm going to be far more calculated. And pessimistic is not the right word. But I think this group needs to show everyone more. And so I think I'm going to be...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
slightly more calculated as we build up to the gold cup and the preview of what that looks like. Um, because yeah, I think it's, I think it's, um, um, a must win, uh, A must-win because, again, it's the same thing I continue to say. This group needs to be together in a tournament format where it really, really matters, playing every three or four days, and they need to win.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
This is their last opportunity to do that before they go into the World Cup, which is all the things I just said. So for me, I think it's incredibly important. Incredibly important. I think you need to see You need to see six wins. I think you need to see a couple of them where they dig in. You need to see three or four wins that are emphatic. And then they need to win.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Right. But here's why I like you. Because you forgot that George W. Bush said, there's an old saying in Texas, fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, can't fool me again.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Well, we've been fooled. We've been fooled. Because here's why, Landon. I agree. The Panama game should have been a slap in the face. Ain't going to happen against Canada. Guess what? It happened. So now what you're saying is, okay. This group needs to take a hard look in the mirror and come out fighting. Well, guess what? I remember a couple guys getting sent off, not having accountability.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Manager gets sacked. You remember all the post-game interviews? When Greg Berhalter got sacked, it's accountability. We ain't seen that. What have we seen? What have we seen from this group that tells you they're going to hold each other to a chord? We haven't. No, we haven't. So this is why I'm saying.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
I know. I know you do.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
by reading a quote from none other than yourself that went viral because people like to hear unfiltered takes. And you said after the game, I'm sick of hearing how talented this group of players is and all the amazing clubs they play for. If you aren't going to show up and actually give a shit about playing for your national team, decline the invite. Talent is great. Pride is better.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
So that was an issue, right? But believe me, not the biggest issue. Yeah. There's no divine right to win a football match. So this isn't a concept of like, they should have won both games and to hell with them. No, that's not, that's not the case.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
You do both. You care and you golf a lot. I love it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Yeah, 100%.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Yeah, so much love to our fans and our listeners. Thank you to our presenting sponsor, VW, and our fan connection sponsor, AT&T. Have an amazing week. Look forward to getting back with you next Tuesday with another edition of Unfiltered Soccer.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
But, but the idea that my firm belief is if we're, if we're in big games and these were big games, these were semifinal and a competitive third place game. If we're going to get beat, you're going to walk off the field limping. That's the exchange. We don't get beat and you cruise. Ain't how it works.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
If we're going to get beat, you're going to earn it, and you're actually going to be desperate to get off the field. Because, listen, I've played in games where my team's chasing shadows, but we've actually kicked the lump, and people don't want to hear that. That's the thing. Football's too expansive now. Play between lines, get the ball in the six-yard box and play.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
No, it's about everybody, everybody in the world. The best game in world football is El Clasico, or it has been. Barcelona versus Real Madrid. Please, the next time you have an opportunity, watch the first 20 minutes of that game. There's nothing pretty about it. It's the best footballers in the world, and there's nothing pretty about it because it's a mentality. It's a siege mentality.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
It's draw the lines, fight for what you're going to get, and then the game opens up. I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed that it took for Gio Reyna to come on the pitch and take a guy's knee off and then there wants to be a kerfuffle and a coming together. That needs... You ever watch hockey? You ever watch hockey when you're playing a rival?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Sometimes a puck isn't even touched before someone draws the battle lines. And so there's a competitive element that's missing with this team. Yes, there's talent in certain areas. Of course, there's talent in certain areas. What we love, and we talk about it all the time, but we have to talk about the other side of it, the competitive nature, the leadership. That's a big issue for this team.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
And Mauricio Pochettino was saying, I think he was quoted as, we have time. I tend to disagree with him a little bit because here's the thing, LD.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
This group of players got a manager sacked,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
lost three of the last four to Panama, had an abysmal showing in the Nations League. Abysmal. To finish fourth is a crime. And now, and by the way, by the way, before anybody, and we love your comments, so bring them in. Before any of the current players get upset with me, I've gotten coaches sacked as well. I've been a part of groups. You've been a part of groups.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
But you don't perform well enough. Your teammates don't perform well enough where you get your coaches sacked. It sucks. But this group got a coach sacked. Lost three out of four to Panama. Finished fourth in the Nations League. I tell you what. I tell you what. If you thought all eyes were going to be on the Gold Cup, by God. By God. They have to win. They have to win the Gold Cup. I don't know.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
After the Gold Cup's over, there's no more competitive games prior to the World Cup. Does anybody understand that? I know there's friendlies. And by the way, the way this group is going, they're not going to all be together. They're not going to be all together for these friendlies. There'll be certain guys pulling out. That's okay. It happens. But guess what? You've run out of time.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
So unless the entire group is together and wins the Gold Cup, I'm worried. But yes, I think Pochettino, when he says there's time, I think there's probably like another month, month and a half in terms of time. After that, there's no more competitive games, simply put.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
On that note, I'm going to let you go.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
It means more to Mexico. It should never. I mean, here's the thing, right? So we agree on this. Tyler Adams was quoted after the game. It's really interesting because sometimes it's when you read something that a player says or a manager says, you then have to dissect it. Tyler Adams said, I mean, listen, it's hard for me to judge. I think my mentality is a little bit different.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
I'd agree with that. I think we need to have every single person buy into exactly what we're doing and why we're trying to do it. But it's just the little things for me. Duels, tackles, leaving your mark on the field, not being naive in certain moments, being a little bit more clever. All the details of the game that I feel when I watch people play with their clubs, we do. right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
So, and then, and then he finishes the quote and says, and then we come here. Sometimes I think we forget a little bit what the games are going to give us. So that's what he said, right? LD. My issue with what he said is that, he's a little bit different. He was, no, no, no. But, but he was saying, and I agree with Tyler Adams. He's saying he is different. His mentality is different.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
He'll leave something on you. Right? So basically he's talking about the players around him and he's saying, and he's saying, I'm a little bit different. but we need everybody to buy in, which means that not everybody's buying in. And by the way, this is what I just said. The duels, the tackles, leaving something, that's a prerequisite.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
As soon as you cross the line, you should be like, that's sort of, I don't know if we're going to score today, but I'm going to win my challenges. I'm going to put somebody on the ground and they're going to know they're in a game. Done, right? The rest of it, we don't know. And so I just, you know, I think about, I think about, I like what he's saying.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
I'm wondering how much of that is translating into the dressing room. Let me give you an example. When we were... And we played... I think we probably played a hundred times together. There were times... where I would call someone to a chord, but players, brothers of mine, who I love dearly, would get their finger this close to my face and say, you ain't performed today.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
You ain't done good enough. And because of the personality I had, I stood up, I bowed up. We got to grips with each other, right? But you know what happened? I went back out on the pitch and I thought, That shivered me to my core. I hated that feeling of being called out and letting somebody down. That will never, ever happen again. But I needed that reminder.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
And players that I was around were big enough, bold enough, and strong enough to say that to me. And there's been times you've looked across the dressing room at me and said things. And I thought that hurt because I respect this guy. But leaders, the problem is leaders can't be liked. If you want to be a leader and be liked, you're in the wrong profession, right? Because I had players. Yourself.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
More nasty was Clint and Jermaine Jones and Michael Bradley. These are all people that I call friends and brothers. But you know what? I tell you something. They would prefer to win first and lose my friendship than to keep my friendship and lose a game. That's a matter of fact. I love Michael Bradley. He is eternally my brother. But I can tell you this.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
CONCACAF Nations League Loss: USMNT Reactions & Concerns
He'd give up dinners and wine with me to win. And that's the difference between being a leader and not being.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
So I think it's incredible what you're doing. I, I, I guess when you talk about and you give us the example of those two seniors, right, 50 are coming back, buying their own meal plan. I see so many colleges, so many universities struggling to build that legacy at their school because of the transfer portal. Right. And I think the transfer portal has amazing pluses and amazing minuses. Right.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
One of the negatives is kids aren't staying at the same school every day. for four years, right? So, so by the time you're used to having seniors put their arm around freshmen, they're not there anymore because it's a kid who's coming from another school. How important is the transfer portal to you in terms of bringing players in, but also how does it hurt the program?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
NCAA soccer is a big conversation, a big deal in this country, and we are delighted, absolutely delighted to have with us today the head coach of the University of Vermont NCAA national champions men's soccer team, Rob Dow. So honored that you are here with us.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Yeah. Collegiate athletics doesn't, doesn't exist anymore. It's basically professional division two, you know, with some academics thrown in.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Which is significant for a lot of these kids.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
I just went through the recruiting process with my daughter. We know all about the Allstate money when that comes on the table. Well, listen, I think you're in a fantastic position to have that conversation, right? You've just won the national championship. Get all those alumni.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
I've got a dear friend, Mitch Dector, who played at the program, and I'm sure he'll be putting some money into the program.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Mitch, me, you, and Rob are going to get on a call. But no, I think it's where the sport is going. And as you said, it's If $5,000 to $10,000 is the difference, as Landon mentioned, of keeping one of your better players, that has to happen. That's part of the business side of it. I'm also curious. I know a couple of your players in the summer play in USL League 2. Is that something you encourage?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Do you want more of your players to do that, if possible, just to continue to get high-level games?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
We have a thousand things we want to ask you and dig into, but no rest for the wicked because you had a newborn son during that NCAA tournament run. Talk to us. Welcome.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Oh my God. Rob, at the risk of the wrath of Vermont's athletic director, Once you build this dynasty and win three or four more national championships, is there ever a world in which you want to coach internationally, professionally? Is that something that you see further out on your horizon?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
No problem at all. We have plenty of those.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
I think that's the best. I think you win.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
We're going to, we're going to pin that. We're going to use that. That's awesome. Rob continued success. Thanks guys.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
LD, I got to say, I really enjoyed Rob Dow. I think he's humble. He's a champion. And one of the things I liked most about the conversation with him was he talked about culture and he gave us examples of how he built it. And people, it's amazing. All people want to talk about now in sports is culture, culture. It's just like this buzzword. And literally nobody knows what it means.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Nobody knows how to implement it. But then when you see it, when you see it and you see someone who has success because of culture, like they didn't win because they went out and bought all the best players.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
They went out and won because they have, as you said, he brought these 50 year seniors back who bought their own meal plan just to be around the freshmen. So well done to him. I enjoyed that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
The begging looks different now. He's going to be begging with a bag. Take that. You go count that. Me and mom and dad will talk. Look, I think college soccer has a really interesting or takes up an interesting space in American soccer. Like on the women's side, that is the breeding ground, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Your four-year breeding ground, and some are leaving early, but to get to the NWSL or professional soccer abroad. In America, for the men, it's been a little bit different. You and I, we'll talk about our collective routes, but we didn't go to college, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
And when you look at just this past December, Philadelphia Union traded all of their draft picks for the next three seasons to the Colorado Rapids for just over $600,000 in general allocation money. So even at the end of my MLS playing career, there were numbers that were saying draft picks mean nothing. The percentage of kids coming out of college don't make MLS rosters.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
And so, yeah, it's an interesting space that needs probably to revamp coming up soon.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
There has to be reform coming because, you know, what people on the surface at the top of the conversation want to talk about, when are we going to produce a world-class player? When are we going to win the World Cup on the men's side? And you can't even begin to have that conversation without going to the basic levels. You know, you talk about you and I being at Everton.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
And underneath us, there was the youth, there was the reserve team, and there was under 18s. Like you said, if you're in the under 18s and you haven't gotten dipped your toe in with the first team, there's a good likelihood you're out the door. But the great thing about that system, Landon, is... That's a Premier League club.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
And if you're an under 18 at a Premier League club and you don't make it, you can still go to League One. You can maybe go to the championship, right? And make a decent living for yourself. In America, because our system is set up as such, you can't. If you're 18 and you haven't really done much of anything and produced and you're at a certain college, That's it. There's nowhere to go.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
There's literally nowhere to go. And so it'll be interesting because I think it breaks up the traditional norm of like, you know, depending on how U.S. soccer scripts this. And we know a few people at U.S. soccer who will hopefully get on and talk about it because it's a really interesting topic.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
But like real, real big conferences when it comes to college soccer may get in that system and no longer be part of the current system.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Yeah. I mean, that's a massive transition.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Look, we need to – yeah, it's a hard question to answer, LD, because we need development, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
You said it. It's a – these kids get on campus, right, in early, middle July. They start preseason, right, because of rules and regs. They can't start preseason until – August 1st. And then it's literally this sprint out of the traps, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
For preseason train as hard as you can for, for, for two weeks, you play a couple exhibition games and then boom, you're in a three, a three month season and you're playing twice a week. And, and then it's over. And then there's, and then there's Christmas break or holiday break.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Then you come back and you're limited to eight hours a week, eight hours a week for, I'm going to get this wrong, but maybe a month or two.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
You're warming up or you're, or you're in the weight room doing, doing mobility. Right. And so like, You have to if you're if you have any aspirations of building a proper base and youth soccer in this country, youth soccer can obviously be extended to college. You have to you have to be training regularly every day.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
And, you know, these college institutions are and it's starting to turn because of because of NIL. It was always about no, no, no. We're an educational institution first. And I think we've seen – there will always be books involved. But I think you saw with Ohio State winning the national championship for football, that's a $20 million squad. That's insane. It's a $20 million squad.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Anyone who tells me that that's about education anymore, it's not. It's not. It's about business. So, yeah, I'm interested to see –
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
any it's going to take a radical change and a hard pivot on so many different levels in this country with soccer to make a real difference because we've been doing this you said it's a couple decades old it is we've been doing it for long enough though to understand it ain't working not it's not working in terms of uh youth development i'm skeptical still that playing more or for longer period in college is going to eventually lead to more professionals but you have like what you have in england and we'll use england as an example because we both played there
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
I mean, I think the point you make is a good one. You know, when I look at Germany and I look at Holland and I look at England and these countries are the size of sometimes small states in America or even like a bigger state. And then they're having at some level, an organ, a football organization.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
They're probably like you said, a hundred plus, you know, like imagine the state of New Jersey having a hundred plus professional teams, somehow, somehow linked to professional or semi-professional. You're going to have, if you are any decent player, you're going to have the opportunity to be in with one of those clubs. And, and,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Look, I tend to like I'm not all for player power like wholly, but I think it's I think it adds a balance. Right. And when it adds a balance, then both sides have to get creative. But what what I didn't like was, you know, a young. young woman or young man going into a university at 17, 18 years old. And then for whatever reason, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
They, they either don't perform well or they're falling out with the coach or a new coach comes in, which we've oftentimes seen. And you're not that coach's cup of tea. They don't like your style. They want to bring someone else in. So either you just sit there and rot or you transfer, but then you sit out, you have to sit out a year, right? This, this I kind of like, because I said, okay,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
NCAA sports has now become a business. Well, back up. It's always been a business. I was going to say it's always been a business. It's now become an acceptable, obvious, out in the open business. And this allows some of these young men and women to navigate their own careers and say, like, this isn't a fit any longer. And I shouldn't be punished for that, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Because I always thought the opposite was true. When a coach... is done with you and doesn't have time for you, well, they just recruit somebody in your position. And they go, you go sit over there. And you're like, well, I can't better myself anymore. I'm done. I'm surplus to requirements. And so I think it hands the power back a little bit to these young men and women to allow them to...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Kind of be able to control some of the direction of their career. Now, like everything, it has its ups and downs. But like I said, it's about getting clever. I know coaches...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
uh personally who basically are like i'm at a i'm at a power four school i'm not really going to recruit too heavily i'm just going to wait for the transfer portal i'm going to bring in all the best kids that fell out at ucla and oklahoma these places by the way i'm getting grade one recruits right yeah they're falling in my lap and i have an amazing program and they're building a team a national powerhouse team based on the transfer portal so it works both ways
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Um, when I, when I think about, um, The University of Vermont and the heights that you've achieved there, I think it's always important to unwind that and start to come back a little bit. Talk to us a little bit about your journey in getting to the University of Vermont, because it doesn't always start at the top.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Yeah. I mean, some of the smaller, so-called smaller schools will win out, right? Because the kids who aren't necessarily, you know, who are at a power four school and they just can't get a sniff, they might go to a, what, you know, quote unquote, smaller school, but look, make no mistake about it. I know firsthand this, when we talk about business, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
LD is no different by the way, than LeBron James saying like, I'll take a meeting with the Knicks. I'll take a meeting with the Lakers. Once I take those meetings, Okay, who's giving me what? Like, I know firsthand of a girl who's gone to three, transferred, gone to three schools, big schools, visited the campuses, heard everything, and then gone, okay, I like y'all. Who's giving me what?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
And the biggest bitter one. And I think that's a great thing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
And most of the time it is. And I look, you and I, you and I had a lot of phone calls when I was, when I was at Memphis and I don't want to see, and you were at San Diego and we talk and we talk about players and different things. And I can remember also player coming into my office and saying like, Tim, I appreciate you guys taking a chance on me at a great season, but like,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Indy's offering me $50,000 more. And I'm like, hey, kid, get your eyes off the floor. Get out that door and go sign that contract. I can't keep you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
You don't have to be upset about it. And so it's about the money. And that's where we are in college sports.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
It's time for the Fan Connection presented by AT&T. Every week, we invite you, the listener, to connect with us by submitting your questions. The best way to grow the game of soccer in the U.S. is to keep asking questions and keep talking about the sport we all love. At AT&T, connecting changes everything. And on USLNT, our connections with you will help grow the game.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
LD, everyone's favorite, favorite time of the week. Including, including... Jordan's favorite time of the week. Jordan, get on in here. J-Y'all.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Jordan, what do we got? Jordan, what do we got?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Holy hell. You said spicy. That was just a lame thrower. God, that was a bomb.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
No, I mean, look, I think Title IX is fantastic, and it gives so much money to women's sports and that empowerment. So, look, I... I understand the question, right? Because because of that, you have the power players and the king, which is American football. It's it's king in college and it's king in the NFL. It's the most moneymaker by a trillion percent.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
So everything then trickles down from there in a really good way. The gray part is that some men's varsity sports are getting cut. the suggestion that we take football out of the equation. Okay. But then you, you, you get, you don't get nearly as much money coming into, into the universities, right? Like that money is coming into universities through television rights, through donors and alumni.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
And they're just not, you know, as Rob Dow just mentioned to us, they're not paying tons of money for, for NIL deals for the men's soccer team. Right. And so we still, we still need the football money in my opinion, if there's another way to do it. And I certainly don't like seeing varsity sports get cut. That's difficult.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Right.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Yeah, I think the money drops. I don't know if there's even enough money left in the pot to keep teams around.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
It's a great question. I appreciate that. Great question. Very thought-provoking.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
I disagree. It's a good point that Jordan makes, but we have tried every variation. Amanda and I have been a part of this as young players and as parents, and we've tried every variation almost of trying to create a system. And when you look at how the rest of the world operates... it starts with the professional clubs and then it trickles down.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
They, they, they fund and facilitate one of the, one of the, and Jordan brings up a good point, you know, get the coaching, the coaching youth development coaching in America is poor. And that would be disaster. Okay. Yeah. So poor, I thought I was kind of understated, but so, so we still have to, we still have to figure out how to get better coaching.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
And oftentimes when you can streamline it and put it underneath the Everton way, Liverpool way, Manchester United way, um, And you get these coaches. I mean, it happens all the time in Spain. Each club, and in Holland and Germany as well, each club has a certain style or philosophy.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
And you start that at the senior team that you see that's playing in Champions League, all the way down to the kiddies and the under nines. They all play the same way and the same philosophy. There's only really one way to do it to have success, in my opinion.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
I think it's, it's hard. You know, what you talk about there is consistency. And when I look at the game of soccer, I mean, you could talk about other sports, but there's different mechanisms in soccer. I think it's, it's almost easier to just have an amazing season, the Cinderella season, and just win.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Um, I am going to go to dinner and then I'm going to be in bed because I have to be up at 3 30 AM for studio. So it's going to be more like a lunch than a dinner.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Let's pull all of these things together. If I'm an MLS team, right? You and I... are MLS owners, right? We, we own a team together and we're, we're trying to draft a player. It's not that these college players aren't good. You've been in, in the LA galaxy preseason when college players have come in, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
It's a lot harder to consistently be in the final eight, final four, because that's when, you know, and I always use the example of Arsenal. Arsenal hasn't won a Premier League title yet, but they're finishing second, finishing second. Eventually, that's going to put them over the hump. It's so much easier to have this one-off success.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
I've been in New York and in Denver when these college players come in, you're ultimately LD getting a 20 year old player, right? Who hasn't played a lot of soccer in the last five years, right? So you've seen it. Right. The player's actually pretty good. He knows how to head it and kick it, get it down, play a pass here or there.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
But overall, he's not a very good soccer player because he hasn't had... So he's gone five years almost and played little to no soccer. He's played from like September to November. And then he's asked to come into an MLS team, which by the way, it's win now, it's invest in you. Why would we invest in a player... who's already passed his sell by day.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
And we don't even know if we can develop him because he's 20 years old already. Like, does that start to make sense a little bit? And that's why so many, and MLS has tried, by the way, they've had the draft, they've had the draft, the super draft. And ultimately the numbers are just like, this isn't, this isn't pie in the sky.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
MLS overall, every single team is basically saying, we draft X amount of players out of the super draft, and by year two, they're no longer with our organization. If every team's saying that, what's the point of going through that exercise? So, wow.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
I mean, the building part of it must be really difficult, though, in college soccer.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
I'm, uh...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
We got to get some Catamount gear.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Yeah, thanks, everybody. Really appreciate all of you. And thanks to our presenting sponsor, VW, and our fan connection sponsor, AT&T. Have an amazing week. Stay safe. Stay blessed. We'll see you next Tuesday with another edition of Unfiltered Soccer.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Rob, I think when we were talking about having you on the show, soccer junkies like myself and Landon and all of our listeners – Take us inside the – give us a synopsis of the season. It ends with a championship, but there are so many – you start preseason in August, and then there's all these highs and lows and peaks and valleys.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
And without giving us one particular moment where you just thought it was going to be an incredible season, take us on the journey of what those couple months looked like over the next couple minutes.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
So did you get away from the kids when you were skiing or you brought them with you?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
Yeah, well, one of the things I want to touch on with the COVID year as an example, but let me just give a big shout out to what you're doing. I think when I look at the University of Vermont, you're not supposed to be there. And I mean that respectfully, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
We do special guests because so many of the topics that we want to dig into on, on this show and unfiltered is, um, is, is what the people want to hear, you know, and that's youth soccer and MLS and us men's national team and women's national team. But, um,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
I think back to a guy who I think is a brilliant coach, Caleb Porter, and probably a decade, I don't know, a decade ago, he did the same thing at Akron. Akron... like Akron is a small program. They shouldn't be on a national stage. It's about UCLA and Maryland and Indiana. And he turned things upside down.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
NCAA Soccer with guest Rob Dow, Head Coach at the University of Vermont
And I think what, what you're doing at Vermont and that what they're doing at Marshall, I mean, they're, they're, they're turning heads in a big way because when you look at these schools, you're actually not supposed to be in that conversation, but, but you're, you're pushing yourself not only into the conversation, but, but to the top of the, of the class.
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USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
He's kind of a Swiss army knife. He has, he has, he has so many is he can play so many positions and he plays them well. And I often wonder, like, is that a blessing or a curse? I think it's a blessing because you get on the pitch. Right. Um, and you have the ability to be available, um, to your manager and you're going to see more of the field, which is always the best thing for a player.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
You know, I think the concern, um, cause what I care about is, is the U S men's national team is he's so good in that number eight role. If everyone's, if everyone's fit, uh, Um, his energy, his exuberance, his ability to make late runs into the box is goal scoring prowess. Like that to me, I think is, is where he's at his best. Certainly, certainly with the U S men's national team.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
And so ideally you'd like for him to be getting as many reps and as many games in that position, but. Okay, the bottom line is he's playing and he's doing really well. Tim Weah, look, you know what it's like. Goal scorers, can you keep banging it in the back of the net?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Oh, I love it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
And the more that he can do that at that level, which he's shown he can do and is doing, I mean, again, brilliant for him, brilliant for...
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um the national team and then obviously christian conseil says it's um it doesn't seem serious which is obviously a great thing and the more opportunity he can get to you know get himself fit ready for the next game for for me that's the most important thing you know with tim wea um i think and you know i i haven't spoken to him so i don't know this is true after he got that red card
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Yeah, I mean, you make a good point about Tim Weh. Look, the fact of the matter is, if you play at an elite level, right, in Europe and with your national team, that's an elite level, You're going to fail more times than you succeed. That's just the nature of the game. Day in and day out, training five times a week, playing once or twice a week for a decade or more.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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You're going to fail more times than you succeed. And you have to be able in the big moments, right? When you get sent off or miss a sitter or whatever the case is, you have to be able to take the criticism in that moment and learn from it. Not, not, tell people to go stuff it, just understand the criticism, understand what you did wrong. If you feel you you've done wrong and change it.
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And you sense that change. I think other people do as well. And that's, that's a sign of maturity. That's a sign of, of, uh, look, we're all, none of us are exempt from those tough moments. Right. But it's how you kind of, how, how you allow them to kind of shape and form, um, your future experiences and how you go about your business and he's doing it in the right way.
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So I think that was a big moment for him and it's showing.
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Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Okay, LD, let's talk Premier League. Oh, boy. Manchester United won. Brighton, three. Yikes. They didn't play well. It is the classic one step forward, two, three, or four steps back for Manchester United. Of course, with Ruben Ameren being the coach. All the spotlight is on him. He had some interesting, interesting words to say after the game.
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Let me read you this quote, and then I'm going to let you take off with this. He said, I know we can succeed, but we need to survive at this moment. I'm not naive. We need to survive now. We are the worst team. Let me read that again. We are the worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United. I know you want headlines, but I'm saying this because we have to acknowledge that and change that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Here you go. That's your headline.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Totally. Totally. Look, again, I read the comment. Let's pick some of this out. He said, we need to survive this moment. As soon as you start to mutter the word survive or survival, people are like, oh boy, relegation. I tend to think, and English is a second language and he speaks very good English.
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Survive this moment means they're in a really low spot in terms of mentally and the morale of the club. And I think that's, I know that's what he's talking about. Survive this moment. This feeling. In our season, this feeling, the era of this club. You know, here's why I like him coming out and saying, what's the worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Because that's what the facts are saying. And unfortunately, I have watched so many Manchester United managers, particularly the last one, Ayrton Hug, when you, me, and everyone else is reading this script, right? And he'll go, he'll stand up there and tell you, you're not seeing what you're reading. You're thinking, wait a minute, you can't keep trying to pull the wool over our eyes.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Like tell us what we, what we already know. Um, and so I do like the truth about that. And I do, I think it's clever. And here's why I've been around enough managers, particularly in England, um, You have to create your own narrative. This team isn't good enough. You just said it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
It's not good enough, nowhere near good enough to be a Manchester United team, to play in the Champions League, to win a title. And he knows that. He also knows that he has a very fundamental system that is completely flawed if he doesn't get the right players in. And he knows that that time is coming. January is probably not the right time to bring in the right players.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
But the summer and a windfall and getting players out. And I think the more he pushes that, Sir Jim Radcliffe and Ineosin Omar Barada and the powers that be in the hierarchy at Manchester United will listen to that. We'll probably already know that. But I think this continues to push his narrative. And I do. I like him as a manager.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
And I certainly think you can't judge him as a manager in terms of his style and these players because these players don't fit. They don't fit his style. They don't fit at Manchester United. And the proof is in the pudding because they haven't forever. number of years now. So I like his honesty.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Okay.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Yeah. I tend to, I tend to think, I tend to think that Omar Barada and Sir Jim Radcliffe and the whole crew aren't naive to this. I think they took this club over from the sporting side, and I think they saw the holes and the flaws. And, you know, I often say with rock bottom, be careful because there's a trap door. And I think they understood that. I tend to think Omar...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Omar, excuse me, Ruben Amram would have had those honest conversation. He seems like it on the surface to say, look, this is the way I play. This is why you've you've come to get me. You've seen how my sporting teams play. I need I'm going to need certain players. Yeah, he probably said I think he probably said, you know what, there's. eight players in the squad that I think can do a job.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
And he probably said, I can get, I can get a tune out of them. I think now having had some time with those players, that eight players, and that's an assumption is probably, he's probably realizing is like three, you know, like there's like three players that I would maybe keep around and, and, and, start, but ultimately, but again, it's difficult because with PSR, you can't change this overnight.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
You can't get rid of this whole team and bring a whole new team in. Right. And so I think a lot of the players we see now come next season will either be out the door or We're sitting on the bench as squad players, good squad players. But I think we're going to see a lot of change. By the way, we don't see a lot of change in the summer. I've got more questions for another podcast.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Um, yeah, I'm looking at the table now. I look to 12, 12 points behind Liverpool, right? Liverpool have the game in hand. We know that's emergency start Derby, which I think is rescheduled for the 11th or 12th of February. Um, City can't win the title this year.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
No, but it's Champions League. Like, Forrest on 44 points, City on 38. Like, there's every chance they overtake Forrest for third place and push, you know, are they able to push Arsenal a little bit? Probably not, but like, I tend to think Forrest, for as well as they're doing, will start to slowly digress, not implode. But yeah, I think City can get back to winning ways.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Yeah, he's a player that caught my eye over the summer, and I just think he's kind of got that X factor. And just because you have talent doesn't mean you're going to make it, right? You've got to rise through the ranks. You've got to take your lumps. But he seems to be doing it in a good way, and every time – He features, you know, he leaves you wanting more.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
There's a click and a shift in this mentality. It's been so catastrophic, their fall from Grace, which is because they've set such high standards, which makes you feel like, oh my God. Yeah. they're getting some players out of the door, making one or two other signings. By the way, Pep Guardiola is still a genius. He didn't lose that in four months.
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So if someone's asking me to bet against them, finding form, Holland banging in goals again, Phil Foden coming to the boil, them getting one or two other midfield replacements or another striker, like, you can ask me to bet against them going on a long unbeaten run. No, I won't. I won't do it. Cause I've seen it. I've seen it. So, um, yeah, I think they're slightly back. I felt I did. I did.
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I felt for Ipswich on the weekend. I was talking to a buddy of mine who is an investor in the club. And I just thought like, Cause I've been on the other end of it. It was like three and a half time. And he rang me at halftime. And I thought, I thought like they got to keep it at like four because like four, four sucks. But like six is demoralizing. I I've, I've been there. I've been there.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
And like, When I conceded three or four, I'm like, I kind of got a hand to that one. If we had done this and put ourselves in the right situation, maybe we could. When you get to six, I'm telling you, LD, you go home and look in the mirror. Well, that's a scary sight to look in the mirror after you concede a six. And you're like, I'm not really that good. And you start the mentality of the team.
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So my worry for Ipswich, I know we're going a little bit off culture here. They have Liverpool next game. and then Southampton, and then Villa. So my hope for them is in the bottom three, The hope is that you get a performance at Liverpool. Don't think you'll win. Then you go into Southampton, the dreaded six pointer. Think you win that game if you're Ipswich.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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LD, my man, what's happening? Yo. Listen, we're going to start off by talking some travel, because you know what? I think both of us were traveling this week.
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And now all of a sudden you're playing Villa who are a better team. But then you're thinking, look, we've had a good performance against Liverpool. Didn't get the result. We won the game. We're supposed to win against Southampton. And now have we gained enough momentum into this Villa team against the Villa side and maybe get a result. But six is tough. But the focus is sitting in there for me.
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Really good performance.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
That's incredible insight for our listeners. Because it's funny you say that. It makes me think of a time I was the opposite. Everton are playing in the Europa League against Sporting Lisbon. It's like Seamus Coleman's first European game. He's still just a young kid. We had a patchwork back before. We're getting beat 5-0, bro. 5-0. I'm chasing after the ball on goal kicks. I'm like, rah, rah.
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USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
He leaves you feeling like, OK, there's growth here. Right. And I think that's that's the biggest that's the biggest takeaway. When you look at young players, it's like we know young players are going to kind of stumble and. the great performance is going to be few and far between you, you almost give them a little bit of license for that, but you want, you want to see growth.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Crazy American guy. We can do this. I'm like... People like my teammates are looking at me like, what are you doing? It's five mil. Like, and I remember in the dressing room afterward, like Dave, I'm always looking at me going, What was the point of that? And I was so heartbroken because I'm like, I don't know, maybe get one back.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Yeah, I want to talk about Holland because I think that's important. He signed a nine and a half year extension with City. So obviously it's this, you know, this half of the season plus the next half and then an extra nine. You know, he's showing a lot of trust in the club. The club's obviously showing a lot of trust in him. According to the New York Times, any release clause
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USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
from his last contract have been removed. That for me is a sticking point, LD, because he's the best striker in the world. It's, you know, you hear the rumors like Real Madrid, he won a couple of titles at City and then he's off to Spain. Like all of those claws have been gone, removed, which means he's not really going anywhere unless something drastic changes.
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Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
No, by the way, relegation. No, you don't know who the next manager is. Oh, I didn't think about PSR, by the way. PSR with all the charges, which we should know soon. Could. They could. I mean, I think it'd be short-lived. Right.
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I wonder, I'll tell you what, I wonder if I'm wondering how much it costs right now to get the rights to that documentary. Cause I, I reckon I could, I could do a season long documentary with city in the championship. That would be amazing. Yeah. And that this podcast would be a whole different kettle of fish, but, um, you know, the other, I think the other talking point about that, right.
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Is, is this keeps him in the premier league for nine and a half years. Um, You know, Alan Shearer, and everyone's talking about the goal rate that Holland is on, you know, should Alan Shearer be nervous? I don't think so, right? Because Alan Shearer is 260 goals. You know, it's crazy. And he has a goal score. If you're saying it's crazy, you must know. I mean, Holland currently has 80 goals.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
You know, in City's 16 remaining games, let's say he scores seven more goals, we're assuming, right? Ends the season with 24 for the year. 87 in total for the Premier League.
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And I think, I think he's got a lot of positivity in his game. I like his confidence. Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
73 behind him. He'd have to average 20 goals a season per season. And he'd pass Scheer in the last season of the contract, which is 20, 33, 24. I'm not betting on that. Yeah. I just don't see him at... Is he talented enough? Yes. I don't see him at the club for that long. I know these signs. It's got Bobby Bonilla written all over it.
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USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Yeah. I think you need that. You know, I've often said, you know, I, I label the people all shucks guys. Like guys who are just kind of like all shucks. They don't make it to an elite level. You've got to have arrogance and brashness to go on the field and think that you're the best. Like that's just – that's the nature of it. But I thought overall, you know, we've talked –
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
So interestingly enough, a dear friend of mine from London is a Spurs season ticket holder.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
For all his sins. And he... We had a conversation. And we've had a lot of Ange Postacoglu-Tottenham conversations on NBC and studio. Because it's like I said about Ten Hag. We are seeing... Landon, we're seeing something so richly with Tottenham. And Ange comes out every game and tells us we ain't seeing that. And so... I have a ton of thoughts on it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And look, our Premier League insider, David Ornstein, said he's 100% safe, which again, I know the kiss of death is when ownership comes out, but it seems as if that's real. What would save him is they have Leicester next weekend. So that doesn't mean it's a win because of the way that they're playing. They're in both cups still.
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I don't think they fire a manager who are in both tournaments, FA Cup. And I think they're leading in the EFL Cup after the first leg. So I don't think you sack a manager who's still going good on both fronts. The issue for me is... Every Premier League team, whether you like it or not, goes through an injury crisis. Every Premier League team does. Now, their injury list is long.
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USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
And you could argue that an injury list is long based on how they play, actually. But he's got defenders running the most high-intensity sprints of any defenders in the Premier League. So, okay. But my issue is, if you have an injury list that long... Right? You're now playing square pegs and round holes. You are.
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You're getting guys to fill in who are in the midfield and now he's playing center back and left back. You're all over the place. The responsibility then lies on the manager to set his team up and say, hey, I know we play a high line. I know we play both of our fullbacks inverted. I know we go for it. But we haven't won in a while. And this is a problem. So we're going to go to Everton.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
And I know we've got a young patchwork back line. We're going to go 4-4-2. We're going to get a result. Yes, our principle is going to be the same. Play between lines. Look to get forward when you can. Overlap on one side. Keep one of the fullbacks home. Maybe you both don't go. But the fact of the matter is, he's saying, no, I've got young players. I've got players in the wrong position.
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And I'm still going to kind of hang them out to dry. And I think that's a massive problem. I think that's on the manager. And if he dissects it any other way, I think it's wrong.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
We've talked tirelessly about what January camp means. And I think overall it's, you talk about fitness. Can you, can you keep your fitness, try and get through 60, 70, 90 minutes, put in a good performance, win the game, not take too many injuries. And ultimately you have more time with the manager and the manager has more time with you. So I think that's right.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
The other part about that is – and this may be harsh but fair, LD – The Premier League is unrelenting. I would probably say the Bundesliga is as well, right? He has coached this style, which in a phone booth is a fun, entertaining style, right? But he hasn't done it at this level. And yes, fair play. He did it with Celtic. In Scotland, you have two dominant teams that monopolize the best players.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
That's it. So he hasn't done it at this level where every single game you could get beat. He's not done it. And... My worry is that he's being so stubborn that it's worked other places that he has, that he doesn't take that 30,000 foot view because he's so close to it to see that maybe, maybe need to tweak a few things. So yeah. Interesting.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Yeah, I mean, some people on the inside that I know seem to really like him. So he's super buttoned up, dialed in, coached quite a lot in Hungary and Holland. And we know in Holland that tactically – And technically, those teams are spot on in the Eredivisie.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
So if he can bring any of that to New York City, they've shown they're willing to go out and back their coaches in terms of getting the right players through the door to play that style. So I think Pascal Jensen is actually quite a good signing, and people on the inside are really, really excited about him. So apparently that hiring process went really well, and they got their guy.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Victim of his own success. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Yeah. I mean, I think his home was at Crystal Palace. And it's a good home. Went to United in a tough transition moment after Sir Alex Ferguson. He was flying high. He was a little bit younger. Didn't work out for him, which didn't work out for a bunch of players, me included. But he was brilliant at Palace. I can say that. He was brilliant at Palace. That was his home. You know, what a...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
I like it for Charlotte. What I would say is this, and you've more than anybody in MLS have dealt with this, right? This is one of those things where it's like, well, it gets hot in the summer here. Like there's going to be a kid at a college that's going to kick you and doesn't care that you're Wilfred Zaha. I, I, I like it. But also if you've ever seen him play, he plays with, he's at his best.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Three, one great victory, but ultimately success in the game.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
He's one of these guys that cheese himself up that he, he could start a fight in an empty house. He's just like anybody who touches him. He just wants to fight and be nasty because I think that gets him at his best. But again, that's going to happen to him every single game, you know? So I just wanted to, from a mentality standpoint, if he's,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Fully prepared for that, but again, talented, on the ball, tricky. I like it for sure.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
We'll follow that one. That's what you worry about.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
I was going to say I'm happy for Chicago this didn't happen, but I think you mentioned that you might have heard something that Greg Berhalter was actually over in Saudi Arabia. I read a report, yeah, that he was over in Saudi Arabia. They were trying to make it happen. Obviously, Greg wanted it to happen. What I would say is... Thank God for unanswered prayers. I don't see.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
And look, Greg is a good coach, and he probably thinks he can get the best out of anyone. That's what a good coach does. But that won't worry me.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Yeah, that'd be fun. Look, I think Eddie Howe, who's a fantastic manager at Newcastle, kind of got the best out of Almarone the other year. year, maybe not his first season, not Eddie Howe's first season, but in the second season, Miguel Amarone hit the ground running. He was flying. He was assist goals. He was coming on. He was like drifting onto the inside. He was brilliant. He really wasn't.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Let me just say, for my sins, I was in Orlando. You'd never get me to Orlando unless my wonderful, amazing daughter was playing soccer, which she was. I was down there watching her ODP games. And yeah, didn't do a lot. Stayed in my hotel room because Orlando is not my place. Sorry about it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
And again, since then, Jacob Murphy's kind of taken over that right-hand side, which is fine. But he still has it. He still has it. If he's hungry and he's excited to be back in Atlanta, as you just mentioned, that could be a really fun one.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
It's time for the Fan Connection presented by AT&T. Every week, we invite you, the listener, to connect with us by submitting your questions. The best way to grow the game of soccer in the U.S. is to keep asking questions and keep talking about the sport we all love. At AT&T, connecting changes everything. And on USLNT, our connections with you will help grow the game. Jordan, get on in here.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
This is your favorite segment of the week. Oh, new background. Wow. Please come on, Jordan. Jordan, I saved this. I saved this because I have a bone to pick with you and I knew that would throw you on live podcast. We are unfiltered. And I feel like some of the questions you... I've heard from some friends that we've gotten, you know, we've gotten a few... I have gotten a few not so nice comments.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
And we're unfiltered. So I think you need to bring us some heat.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
No, I just think there's some people out there who maybe disagree with some things I or you have to say. I think we need to give them their just due and stay unfiltered. No question.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Okay.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
A little thunder. All right.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
As long as Landon's on, I'll be fine.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
I was going to say no bias there. I mean, naturally, I would say they have a good chance, but they have to get through Houston in the West, and that's going to be a problem given the team that Pat Onstead is putting on the field.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Yeah, but I also think, well, one, we know how great of a coach Greg Vanney is. I think not having their best player is actually going to give him a little fuel for fire. He's going to be able to drive those players. Almost reverse psychology and basically say, don't drop your standards. We know it's going to be tough, but we've done it before. We can do it again.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
And then, by the way, they get this massive boost at some point in the season. So, yeah, it's hard, though.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Yeah. I mean, I don't think you can ever get too far away from, um, Columbus crew stadium for everything it meant to, uh, me as a player and, and, you know, my teammates, one being Landon. And, you know, we, we have never in this country had a national stadium, um, which hopefully will change in the future. But again, that will also take time.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
You go to these countries and you play in a national stadium and these things were built just from brick and concrete and they're old and they have, they have character and they have meaning. And we've never had that in America and based on performances and results and, and, Dos Acero and... Well, we kind of... Yeah, we kind of did have it in Columbus. We created that in Columbus.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
And, you know, the... And I say that because the feeling was we're going to play Mexico in Columbus or we're going to win. Like, there was just... There was never a sense of anything other than that mentality. And it did. It had everything to do with it was small and metal and we knew it was going to be cold. And so, as a player, you walked off that bus match day minus one or...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Um, you know, or pregame, you just felt the chill in the air and you thought we're going to win. And so that for me was, uh, I think Cincinnati, you know, in terms of new stadiums, I just haven't been, uh, to a lot of them, but I think Cincinnati seems like they've got a cool thing going. So maybe, maybe I'll get to visit, um, this season, but certainly, um, playing would have been cool.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Go ahead, Tim. No, after you. I'm going backseat in this one.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Well, I mean, it's hard to add to that explanation, which was thorough and insightful. I think that just from the value of the tournament, I like it. I like that when you... There's a dollars and cents aspect to this, so that has to stay on one side of the line. I mean, that's a completely different part of the conversation. From the player side, again, I've been on...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
on teams in MLS where you just think we're probably not going to win the league here, but this is a really awesome opportunity for us to have a cup run and win a cup. Um, you know, being an owner in Memphis, winning an open cup game, even a one round beating an MLS team, like it drives your season tickets. It drives, um, excitement in the city. So like that, that, that plays a huge factor.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
And I know with, with Houston, obviously they won the open cup before, right before I got there, but that's a huge deal for our club, the Houston Dynamo and for the city. So I think there's, look, there's two parts of the conversation that ultimately have to get married, but I like the tournament.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Love that. Also, we need you guys to send in your questions. We're going to have an episode. on February 4th about promotion relegation. Oh, yeah. Good point. Promotion relegation. I'm excited about this. Who doesn't want to talk about that, bud? It's awesome. We're going to light a few fires. It's what everybody wants to talk about. I think it's so exciting on both sides of the argument.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
So we're going to have a lot to say about that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Love it. Love it. Jay. All right.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying, but keep going. That's true.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Yep. Yep. There are a lot of things I hate. Let me start by saying that. I hate NFL refereeing. I hate it. So much so, I remember getting on this rant. And I text my producer at NBC, Pierre Moussa, the great Pierre Moussa. And he's produced more NFL games than you've ever seen in Premier League games. And I think he was like, why are you calling me? And I was like, hang on a second. Listen.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
With the Premier League, from being in England, all they do is talk about refereeing. You talk about the game, you talk about refereeing. And then what beer you're going to have in the pub. That's all anyone cares about, right? So referees' decisions are huge in the Premier League, right? And in soccer in general. And I was saying to myself, these guys get let off the hook so often. NFL referees.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Pass interference that wasn't pass interference? Well, they're just going to be a spot foul, 15 yards, whatever it is. Let's get on with it. Yeah, but that put them in field goal position, and then they won the game. Like, it's so annoying when you see some of these things from the refereeing standpoint.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
What I would say about Patrick Mahomes is we must be on the same page because I, before this became headline news, I would think that all the time. I'd be like, why don't you just, this linebacker's running, a million miles an hour at you just tiptoe the sideline, step out of bounds and get hit. Because by the way, referee's going to call, um, what is it? Roughing or late hit or whatever it is.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Yeah. Referee's going to call it. So you might as well use that to your advantage. Listen, every, every advantage is, is important. And by the way, your, your, your quarterback can do it too. Cause quarterbacks are protected. So, um, You know, I love, I'm obviously a Giants fan, but I love what Patrick Mahomes is doing. It's exciting. Love him or hate him.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
I tell my daughter all the time, like, if they're hating on you, you're doing something right. So, you know, it's, I don't, I think it'd be really hard for them to three-peat, but by God, they got every chance to do it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Look, I've got strong feelings on this. I think, and I've seen it in my own teams, it's idiotic. It's idiotic. And it's an oversight in the game plan and preparation because... Because with all of the set pieces and all of the details in terms of tactics in the best teams and all the teams I've played on before you go out or in the team talk, it's,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
And now it happens in global football everywhere. You're like, just don't touch the guy because he's going to go out. Correct.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
You're a poor son. He's a Galaxy fan. He's a Kansas City fan. You're setting him up for massive, massive… He's a LeBron fan too, isn't he? Tell me. He's a LeBron fan.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
I didn't even know people sat back there. Shout out to Southwest. If you're listening to the podcast, you know, we take upgrade vouchers.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Yeah, I do. I played with a guy at Everton, Mohamed Bezic. And it was when Roberto Martinez was the manager. My guy comes strolling in in a white Lambo. Gorgeous. Gorgeous, right? And he whips it into the player's parking lot, just gets out, strolling with it a little bit of time, wash bag, everything's cool. That was my guy too. And sure enough, next day, Mo ain't got the Lambo.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
So we're like, where'd your Lambo go? And he's like, the gaffer said I have to get rid of it. What? Roberto Martinez was like, he saw because, you know, with the manager's office. Yeah, you can see that. He said, the seat's too low. You're going to have hamstring injuries. And he made him sell it. Because he thought it was physically bad for him? Yeah. God bless him.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
I thought he was going to say it was too flashy. Mo was one of the best guys I ever played with. He was like, okay, I sold the land. Poor fella.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
I know him from North Carolina or something.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
You're on penalties, and if you're not on the pitch or if you've taken a knock, the second person's on penalties. That's it. There's no discussion. And oftentimes, when there is a tussle like that, then the manager afterwards, I've had this happen, then the manager's like, okay, we're setting and deciding who our penalty taker is. Like, to me, it's idiotic.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
I remember that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Yeah, thank you for me, everybody. Thanks to our presenting sponsor, VW, and everything they do, our fan connection sponsor, AT&T. Thank you all. Have an amazing week. Look forward to seeing you next Tuesday with another edition of Unfocused Soccer. See you soon.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
You have to have one penalty taker or two They need to be designated by the manager and that's it. There is no arguing. I don't think it's character. I don't, I think it's absurd. I really, really do. The only time, the only time that I ever, and by the way, you said you've, you are the penalty taker and you've given the ball to people. That's the person who has a responsibility.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
They want to give it away. You can give it away. The only time I would ever say that a penalty taker should give the ball away is if his teammate is on, is on a hat trick. That's the only time for me because hat tricks are so special and so rare, but otherwise no, like take the penalty and be done with it. So, so there were two times. Yeah. Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
No, I'm okay. Yeah. Look, young kids. It's, um, you know, the other side of the argument is they're in the shop window. They want to get the goal. It's there. you know, it'd be their first or one of their first few goals with the national team. They want to impress the coach. So I get that side of it. It's not that big of a deal. I get it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Give me the ball. Don't ask Clint. Clint will bang that thing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
So well, and then also Patrick Ajamang, big credit to him, scored his first goal. Obviously, that's that's special for him, for his family, for everybody. So got to make mention of that as well. And hopefully that will continue into the next game.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Yeah. It was. No, I think there... I know you spoke to some people at U.S. Soccer. I think there is... There are moments, particularly with this camp, you have a few more luxuries in terms of the management. And I've been a part of...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
uh camps where sometimes a guy maybe comes in to be a part of the the team or be a part of the first week um maybe from the coaching staff to say hey you're on our radar type thing or hey we we like you and want you to be around the setup and it's an opportunity to come and be around the setup yeah actually maybe you're not completely fully fit so we're not going to push you um and look he's dealt with injuries
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
He's dealt with injuries last season. And so I do think that is important. And having, you know, again, I think that Pochettino's building bridges. We saw a little bit of that, we think, when he sent Christian Pulisic back to AC Milan before the Mexico game. And maybe he's doing that now with Seattle, right? Maybe he's saying, look, new times, new player. We're going to need him at some point.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
And maybe... When we need to push them, we're going to need to lean on that. So there's all types of different things that go into these decisions.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
You know, it's hard. I, I find it difficult. Not that I ever tried. Right. But I find it difficult to criticize Tyler Adams because he always delivers. He just always delivers. Yeah. It's the, it's the mentality he has. It's the type of kid he is. Yeah. The difference is, though, I watched the game and there was something different. There was a sparkle.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
I like to say he has the bit between his teeth, but he always has that. I think when you're fit, and we both know this, when you're fit, fit. Not like...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
just getting by or still have a little bit of a niggle or maybe you're fit but in the back of your mind you're worried like that performance to me was tyler adams with zero worries zero concerns fully fit fully confident and and again it's he oftentimes has that but but dealing with the injuries that he's that he's had
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
you all that creeps into your mind um and mentally uh oftentimes that can that can affect your performance but this just you know when you talk about if you've ever seen tyler adams at his absolute best that that was him on the weekend and so like you're just thinking well done to himself the physio staff bournemouth getting him fit um and really being up to speed because he's a joy to watch and he's he's a special player he really truly is and so
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
So what were you doing in New Orleans?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
As you said, for USMNT fans, like long may that continue.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
Yeah. And by the way, the caveat to that is if you've never seen how
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT vs Venezuela Recap, Everton Shock Spurs, and the Worst Manchester United Team Ever?!
italian teams defend it's not normal right like so you know in certain in certain countries you can go oh yeah chuck the guy right back and just stick no italians defend like nobody else on the planet and it's so systematic and it's so drilled so the fact you know again talk about big credit to weston the fact that he can just slot in and play well right like it's not an easy thing to do in italian football but you know i also think
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
I think that's going to be the final. I'll tell you who didn't get what they want. The security guards. Who organized this to get a double header?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
To get a double header with U.S. fans that are going to leave.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
With different turnstiles. I'm not sure that's an amazing idea. Actually, maybe they sold...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
I think that's probably right. But also, not an amazing idea. No.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Here you go. That's something I want to make sure we stay across because that's an interesting concept.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Lots of good questions. Before we start this episode, what t-shirt you got on?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Right, LD, the time that everyone's been waiting for is the roster announcement and the dissection of that roster. It's always what excites us as commentators and fans, right? Like before the game, it's like, who's going to be in? Who can we look forward to seeing? What's the manager thinking? So really, really interested in some of these things. takes on what this roster looks like.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
And I, you know, having, having read through it very recently over the last 24 hours, it's kind of like some interesting omissions and additions, which I guess it's probably not surprising for any sort of roster, but this one in particular.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
So here's the long and the short of the goalkeeping debate. These are the three goalkeepers that are most likely going to go to the World Cup. Okay?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Yeah, I think so. There's always shocks and surprises, but this is who I think. The only person that will play is either Zach Steffen or Matt Turner. Patrick Schulte can't play at a World Cup. And again, remember, I keep projecting to the World Cup. He can't play at a World Cup in the summer of 2026 because right now he has three caps, senior caps for the men's national team. Okay?
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In between there, at best, at best, he'd get that number three to 13. That's in the most amazing world ever, right? He won't be able to have enough experience to play in the World Cup. I like him. I covered him in the Olympics. Obviously plays really well for a very good MLS side in the Columbus crew. There's not enough hours in the day for him to get enough experience.
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Zach Steffen and Matt Turner. Zach Steffen is the number one for me right now. You know, Pochettino has said it's an open race. It's not an open race. Zach Steffen right now is the number one. Matt Turner after August. can put his name back in the running for that. And it's simply going to come down. They have to perform when given the opportunity when they pull on the US shirt, no doubt.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Is there a certain state chapter? Yeah, I don't know what chapter it is.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
It's going to happen over the course of the 12 months, well, 10 months between August and June or whatever, whenever the World Cup kicks off. And where does Matt Turner go? He has to make a strategic move in the summer away from Crystal Palace and to be a number one. And what I would say is he's left Arsenal, okay? So here's why his gets interesting. He left Arsenal, right?
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To go to Forrest to be the number one. They hedged their bets and made him like one, one and a half, right? And then when the team didn't perform well, he lost his spot. Happens. He then had a couple different moves where he probably would have been the out-and-out starter. And I think one of those moves was to Germany. Forrest blocked it. So he ends up going to Palace.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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He's out-and-out the number two at Palace. His move in August, if he wants to play in the World Cup, has to be a nailed-on starter.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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when I left when I left Manchester United I went to Everton I was guaranteed basically to be the starter my contract was structured won't get into it enough time was basically structured that I was going to be the starting goalkeeper so it was nailed on and he has to make a move in August that's going to basically say
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USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
I'm, I'm so far the number one at this new club that the other guy is just there to like carry my boots.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Shout out to American Outlaws. I mean, the amount of times that we shared a lot of great moments with them in stadium moments. It's incredible. I get goosebumps thinking about it. all of them and the things we did.
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In the Premier League, it's a copycat league. Everyone does the same thing. So no one, I don't know if anyone's going to sign him to be the out and out number one in the Premier League. Cause they're, cause they're going to, whatever team it is is going to go, well, Forrest didn't think so. Right. And Palace didn't think so. So, well, they don't think for themselves very often. So,
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I tend to think it will be away from England, but it could be the championship. It could be a team in the championship, so possibly.
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Well, here's what I would say. Yeah, I think we've done that down the years. Tony Miola went to the 2002 World Cup with you guys, right? Yeah. Basically because- Yeah, but he had played in 98 or 94, didn't he? Yeah, no, no, I'm saying, yeah. And so you bring a senior goalkeeper. We've had Marcus Hanneman down the years through our World Cups, right? Senior goalkeeper.
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Was the last, in 2022, I think, Sean Johnson went?
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USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Like a senior. I think your senior goalkeeper to play that spot is too old. It's Brad Guzan, right? Right. I think Brad's slightly too old. He won't mind me saying that. He actually will, but I don't care. Brad, you're old. So I don't know if there's one there. So I think you – I don't think – Yeah, that's fair. What did you say? Since 98, 94, we've had that, right? We've had a veteran presence.
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So, look, I just don't think – yeah, and to answer your question, I do think he's the third-best goalkeeper. Certainly, you factor into that potential and so forth. And, look, the bottom line is – The other part of that argument is our research team can probably do this, but name me a time in a World Cup where the third goalkeeper on the roster is played. That scenario doesn't work.
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If you're asking me right this second, okay, I think the back four for Panama is Anthony Robinson left. Left side center back, Tim Rehm. Right side center back, Chris Richards. And right fullback, Joe Scali.
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Here's why.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Well, we have the numbers in front of us. 67 caps for Tim Rehm. You have to win. We keep talking about you have to win. I think if Cameron Carter Vickers and Austin Trusty are listening to this, they're going to feel hard done by because, like I said, they play together at Celtic. We've talked about it on the podcast. I want to see them play together for the U.S.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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They have a really good partnership. Look, it's going to be one from three. Cameron Carter Vickers, Austin Trusty, or Tim Rehm play in one of those center back spots. But I definitely think it's Chris Richards is nailed on.
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So, yeah. Okay. I mean, I think so. I think so. I, you know, the, I think if it's not Tim Ream, it's probably Kim and Carter Vickers, but again, we'll see. But I, I think that back four that I, that I said will probably be the ones that end up playing the first game. But overall, I, Look, would you say it's an incredibly strong defensive unit? I'm not sure.
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I like... I do really like Tanner Tessman. Get to him in a second. Look, let me just say... Tyler Adams is brilliant. And I often talk about players, football players, having that dog in them. And they ask me what that means. And it's just like that, I'm going to take your head off. I don't care. And I was watching this weekend, and he was effing somebody off after a foul.
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And I just thought, this kid's brilliant. He's absolutely brilliant. Diego Luna is an interesting one. You know, three caps, still young. You had him right in San Diego.
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Yeah. Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
For those people who don't know who they are, they are the official supporters group of the U.S. men's and women's national teams. Who would not know who they are? I don't know. Listen, I'm just plugging that just so in case someone's like, who?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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He does.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
don't really listen to a lot of what managers say in press conferences. I mean, it's good. It's good.
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Yeah, no disrespect to the managers. I've heard enough of them to know. No, I know. You know, the old days when Sir Alex Ferguson called me on summer holidays and said, you know, he's signing Edwin Van Der Sar and just keep my head down and keep working and I can win a spot. No, I can't. I need to leave the football club. Watch him play.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
So anyway, um, I look, I think, I think Tyler Adams, I don't think you could keep Tyler Adams off a football pitch for the U S men's national team. If you tried, he's just that good. He's ultimately gonna, I know he hasn't seen him. He's going to win him over. Like Tyler's won every other coach over in the world. Um, Weston, of course I liked him a lot. I think he's, I think he's, yeah, me too.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Well, now they know.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
I think he's smooth on the ball. He's, I think he's got a good body. Um, he runs well. You know, can he, can he translate that consistently to the next level? I think he can, but obviously that's a challenge. And then Gio Reyna, you know, that's a player he hasn't seen either. And I think this is going to be a really good opportunity for Gio to get in there and shine.
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USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
I think that's to your point. And when we're obviously talking to so many of our followers on Unfiltered Soccer, our massive, massive US Men's National Team fans, right? And so I think we have to be mindful that This roster construction isn't about who are my best 22 players and stick them on there. We wish that was the case.
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It's about balance and who's good for the team and who has a good attitude and has enough maturity who plays on Sunday. Maybe a defender playing on Sunday isn't as vital as a attacking midfielder playing on Sunday, right? So, cause they're probably not going to log as many high intensity sprints, that type of thing. And so you have to be mindful of that.
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USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
What, when you want to construct a roster and to pick the starting 11. So it's not always as simple as what's on the piece of paper.
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USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Yeah, totally. And Gio's in a precarious position, right? Because he doesn't get a ton of time. If he stays at Dortmund, goes to the FIFA Club World Cup, then... He's out of the plans for the summer. And then, by the way, and if he moves... which I tend to think he might move, then he needs to impress his new club. He might also be out. Right.
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And they're going to mandate what his summer looks like.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
LD, what's happening to my band?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
But big moments, big opportunity for him to, you know, if he can play, let's say he plays 90 minutes over the course of, you know, in both games, right? Like two times 90 minutes is a really good indicator.
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USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
you know, certainly, certainly for a player that you haven't seen.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
When you go to a national team, you go to L.A., What's your seating arrangement? I know it sounds like a stupid question, but are you director's box? Are you wanting to sit with the people? Where are you?
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Mm-hmm.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Yeah, and they're dwindling. One, they're scarce, and two, they're dwindling. So, yeah, and again, in the grand scheme of things, Going scoreless in your first three games isn't the worst thing in the world, but for him, it's not ideal. It's timing. I like the forwards. Ajumang, fantastic. Really good January camp. Offers a little bit of something different off the shoulder that I like.
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I think you have to have... The great word in soccer now is verticality. You do have to stretch because particularly in this team, I mean, you look at there's so many good footballers underneath the ball for the U.S. team that you do need a striker who can stretch.
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Yeah, and Josh Sargent is scoring goals at Norwich, and at the championship level, he's shown he can do that. So, again, we've often talked about strikers. Strikers are in a class by themselves. You want them to be in form, fit, and hungry. Right. Look, when I see this midfield, I get excited about the combination of the midfield forwards for the U.S.
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I mean, bare minimum, Tyler Adams, Weston McKinney, Gio Reyna, Tanner Tessman, Moussa, Christian Pulisic, Timothy Way. I mean, that's seven players that I get really excited about. That I'm almost... which is strange for the, I could check that box off. Boom. They're good. Like they're good. They're going to perform.
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They put in consistent performances at a high level, maybe not Tanner Testament quite yet, but I think he's going to get there. And so I feel really good about that group and, and more than anything, uh, You're going to have... Who's to come back? You got Ricardo Pepe to come back. Pepe, Balogun. Flo to come back. Dest. Dest. So you start to look at the roster construction like, oh, yeah.
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Yeah, we've got some really solid pieces, right? And so that makes me feel good about us moving forward. This roster in particular, but also... And the other point to what Potch said, like someone obviously put Moussa as a forward, not him, but like some of these guys are interchangeable. Like... What does the game ask for? Well, the game asks for Weston to sit. Cool, great.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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This game asks him to be a number eight and drive forward. Great. He can do that. He can also get in the box and be on the end of the box. Christian can play wide and play underneath as a 10. So there's a lot of different flexibility with this group, which I really like. And by the way, if Tanner Chessman is...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
starts to boss it in, like, the number six role, that then goes, we don't necessarily have to play double pivot and two sixes. You go, you go, right? We don't know that yet, but maybe he has the legs to do it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
I think Tessman in the six.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Yeah, I do.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
I think he plays Tyler and Weston. That's the easy answer, but I think he plays on the other side. Christian on one side, up front. Weya on the other side. Is there a world where you play a 4-1-4-1? Testament has to hold it, because I still think Gio Reyna needs to be on the field. Okay, so then you put... Someone still misses out. Jesus Christ. Someone still misses out. Because then you're two.
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You have to play Sargent or Ajumeng, but I don't think Ajumeng starts. So Sargent's up top. But my point is, if Sargent's up top and Tessman's in the hole, then who's your four? Christian's one.
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USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Yeah, he can, but then Gio misses out. He's got to play. He doesn't have to play. He doesn't play. He has to play.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Here's the other thing. When I look at this team, he has to... his talent suggests he has to play. So no, I'm, and I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm just saying like, he needs to be in a position where he's starting for the national team because he's that good. Okay.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
I'm already, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not opposing you. I did that. Yeah. I'm with you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
I do. I do. I mean, I think the world of them. But I think we're going to agree on our starting 11.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
No, I didn't. In the starting 11, he missed out.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Yep, yep, yep.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
It depends who he plays in goal. I tend to think he's going to play Zach Steffen because he's playing, I think, for Zach.
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USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
No, and Zach impressed him in January. The thing about Zach is he is a beautiful specimen when he's in that goal and he's making saves. He just looks the part. Hypothetically, they go on to lift the Nations League, right? They go on to win that. He's had two really solid games. I think he walks away from that going, I dare you. I dare you. Yeah.
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USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
I hadn't thought about it. Question. I think last US game I saw I was in the… I was in the…
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So I tend to think LD, whoever, if it's not Tim Ring, so here's my caveat. If that back four is Robinson, Ream, Chris Richards, and Scali, I think if it's not Tim Rehm, let's say it's Cameron Carter, Vickers, or Austin Trustee as one of the center backs. Or McKenzie. Or McKenzie. I think it's massive for whoever partners Chris Richards in the Hartford defense.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
That's a good point. That's a good point. Right. Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
No. And I think, I think when I said that, or when I say it, I'm thinking with my, we have to win a trophy cap as opposed to my, Hey, how do we, how do we build this? How do we.
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USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
in the owners well it was it was the director's box suite with where was it kansas city it was at it was at um um child mercy park children's mercy children's mercy park child mercy it's the same difference um yeah so i was there but i'm i'm a man of the people but so far it's big dude so like i saw this i was there for the super bowl it was massive it's so big shocking yeah
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Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Phenomenal. Because by the way, that hasn't been like ultra consistent. Not that he hasn't been a consistent performer, but he's been dropped by some coaches. Had to earn his way back in.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Yeah, I agree with that. The challenge, though, is for a goalkeeper, right? Forget it. Anybody, really. Take a defender or a goalkeeper. You win a game like 2-1, you concede a goal, no big deal. You win the game. Everybody makes plays, heading, dot, kicking, saving, all that stuff. It lives in the manager's mind. To your point, he's got two games virtually. He has to score. He has to score.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
If he comes away with that with no goals and saying like, I played well, and we all think he played well. I still don't think you do yourself. Yeah, you're right. That's the hard part about being a striker is you've got to score.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
It's time for the Fan Connection presented by AT&T. Every week, we invite you, the listener, to connect with us by submitting your questions. The best way to grow the game of soccer in the U.S. is to keep asking questions and keep talking about the sport we all love. At AT&T, connecting changes everything. And on USLNT, our connections with you will help grow the game. It's that time again, LD.
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The AT&T fan connection. It's where you all get to ask us. You get to yell at us, kind of. There were some good ones last week, by the way.
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It's good, yeah. It's good. We love all of it. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Speaking of the good... Jordan. Jordan. How are you? That was, I bet you're calling me ugly. I didn't know that was about to happen. Ugly as me, folks. All right. Are you not wearing a football jersey? What are you doing?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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What would be—by the way, we've got— I have some real vintage. We've got the Johnny Cash going today, all black.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
What's, what's your, my, the one you need to find, which, which is like a cult classic is the army green camo. It's when I scored the goal landing, you were playing. Oh, I remember that. People remember that shirt. People love it. I don't have one. I literally don't have one.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Wait till you see this one. Jordan, what's your favorite U.S. Men's National Team shirt?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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I like the Where's Waldo was fun.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
That one's cool. Yeah, that's nice. Oh, yeah.
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USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
No, I don't think so.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
I don't hate it at all. My initial inclination would be like, That's impossible, never going to happen, but we know now that nothing is impossible when it comes to these tournaments. So, like, yeah, I'm with LD and Anonymous that, like, I'd like to see... Look, this is going to sound very high on my horse, but the results speak for themselves. Like, the U.S.
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doesn't get enough good games in CONCACAF, right? They just don't. And you start to, like... create these headlines of like, Oh, so-and-so is chasing the U S and they get like still not competitive games. And guess what?
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Yeah. Right. I like to see, I like to see us play because when you look at the European countries, first and foremost, They know, you know, so many of my teammates were English, played for the England national team. And it's like, I would be shocked. I'm like, who are you playing? I'm like, oh, we're going, we're going back. We're playing Kazakhstan or El Salvador.
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And they're like, I'm like, who are you guys playing? It's a friendly. Like, oh, we got Italy at Wembley. And then we got to go to Germany for the second.
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Yeah. I think we played them before the World Cup or something.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
I want to go there. We played somebody. Somebody fact check. We played before the. No, it was. It was in California. It was in.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Okay. All right. My bad. Bekistan, Kazakhstan. I apologize. That's my geography there is not great. But yeah, we like these European teams. They play so many big games. It's never a game off. So I'd like to see it. It's true.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Sure. Well, FIFA said they had an idea that was brought up in a meeting from somebody. Anonymous, I think.
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Just make up a name. That should be a rule.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Can I make a rule? Can I make a rule for unfiltered soccer? Sure. You're not allowed to send a comment in without some sort of name. Make it up. Make it funny. That's right. You have to have a name. Bit of banter. Give us something to work with.
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Yes. He loves this. Ben, are you kidding me? But that's carte blanche to name anybody before 2018. Anybody. Correct.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Yes.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Hang on, hang on, hang on.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Pre-18, best 11. I think that's the real question. Wait, has anybody ever, Ben, have you ever seen a young Eddie Pope, what that looks like? Because we're talking about defenders. We're talking about defenders in this current group.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
It's so true. God bless them. Defenders in this current group, they look at Eddie Pope. Wow. Okay, anyway, keep going.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Name the other 10.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Obviously.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
We can play them both together.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Oh, Jesus Christ.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Tab in his prime.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Okay.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USMNT Nations League Semifinal vs Panama Preview
Yeah. I mean, the problem with Turandolo is he had major injuries right before World Cup, so people didn't get to know him. He was brilliant.
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Well, listen. Back to us. Claudio and Michael Bradley together in midfield. And they have, they have Wes and Tyler. It's one in one. There's that's a split. That's a split. That's a split. Clinton. You no question. Josie striker. No question. Goalkeeper. No question. Christian. Absolutely. Right.
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You know, Robinson, if you want to make a case that again, thing about bees is he was, he was world-class at two positions. Right. And so, which is very difficult to do, but, but Anthony Robinson, absolutely brilliant. So, Let's say they get that one. Maybe three or four for the post-18 group.
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Well, it's interesting. Let's pause there for a second, right? Because... what, what that actually looks like to the outside world, because you and I have, you and I have lived this, right. And it's always like high paid athletes, shut up. You sit in first, all that there there's a sports science has become so massive. Data analytics has become so massive in the game. Right.
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Oh, Jesus.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Dos acero. I'm saying 3-1. Good guys. All right.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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All right.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Cage around. Did it have cage around it?
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Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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You know what's funny? That's great because I almost want to say, and again, we need our facts checkers. I almost want to say I didn't play at Saprissa because remember they moved from Saprissa to the national stadium, which is much nicer. And I think most of my games against Costa Rica were in the national stadium. You got lucky then. I know, I know. I might have been on a bench or something.
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So interestingly enough, the easy answer is Azteca. And here's why it's not. Because as formidable as it is, I enjoyed that challenge so much. There was some sort of sadistic fun in playing there because it's Mexico. The one game for me, and it's a similar vibe, is San Pedro Sula in Honduras. Oh, yeah. That sucks. And I'm getting goosebumps thinking about it. And the reason... There's a road.
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So to your point, cause I've, I live this for 13 years, you know, your game ends on Sunday, right? You've played 90 minutes. As you said, you're shattered. What happens, what happens then is because you're coming from Europe, you are, There's a term in soccer or sports, tired and wired.
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There's this long, desolate road, right? And it's hazy. And it's a bit like brown and gray. And off in the distance, you can see San Pedro Sula. And it feels a million miles away. And on this road, right, it's filled with cars and pickup trucks and people walking. I'm talking about four miles, right? And they're just walking. And you know where they're going. This is a pilgrimage to the game.
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And you get there.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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It's like Mecca.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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It's a Mecca. And you have to show up two hours before the game. And the bus pulls in. And as long as I live, I will never forget it. Someone can tell me how many San Pedro Sula holds. I don't know, 50, 60,000, whatever it is. It's this big concrete structure. The bus pulls in down a tunnel and it opens up. The locker room's here and it opens up.
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And all you see is the stadium filled with people and music and horns and loud. And you get off the bus and you go again, it's a tunnel. It's just like concrete tunnel. And you get in the dressing room. And I remember thinking, I'm not going to enjoy this. What I said about Azteca, like I'm nervous, but I'm going to enjoy this. I just kept thinking, I ain't going to enjoy this.
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This is like, this is horrific. The second we come out, because goalkeepers come out first form, they're going to boo and whistle and throw things. And that, by the way, does not stop for the next two hours. And as the LD said, you just cannot wait to get on the bus home.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Appreciate you not telling that until 2025. Oh, just for the record, I did play at Saprissa. It wasn't that difficult. 1-3-1.
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We never won in Saprissa.
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Oh, I kind of remember that. I got pumped that game. Oh, we got destroyed. Destroyed. Pre-VAR. Good question.
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great great answer a great question i mean look what i would say is i've told people often um one of the greatest loves of my life was playing for my country i've played 121 times and it was honestly the first my first game at legion field in out birmingham alabama my mom was there it it meant just as much as my last game um which was horrific uh losing to trinidad and tobago um
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It meant every game meant the world to me. And as Landon said, some highs are really, really high prior to the game, and it's hard to hit those heights all the time. But the National Anthem was the moment where it was all consuming. Like the training was done, the battle was to come, but that was like a singular moment in time.
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So the night after the game, you're completely drained and exhausted and you go lay in bed and your eyes are like, your body's like, please shut down. And your nervous system is so high. You don't sleep. You don't sleep that night. You probably get to bed three o'clock. Most of the time. And then you get up and you jump on a flight. Yes, it's first class. Amazing. Flat beds.
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And what I would say, because I think it's such a great question, and we just talked about Saprissa and San Pedro Sula, When I would stand there with 10 other of my brothers away from home, we were hated. It's hard to illustrate that to people. You're standing there and you have landed in that country and pretty much for 48 hours, you've been looked at with disgust and you've been hated.
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And by the way, when they play our amazing national anthem away from home in CONCACAF, it's blared through, it's never words. And it's, it's, it's blared through some rickety PA system.
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And so the pride that we felt singing it as loud as we, we could try to get above the whistles and the booze and all the noise, because they don't respect our national anthem in a lot of these places that filled me with more pride than anything else.
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It's good. I don't even know the certain national anthems because I didn't pay attention that much to them. But for any world football fan, do yourself a favor and watch Italy play. the players during the Italian national anthem, whenever they play it, there there's tears, there's tears, there's, there's like gyration and they're like gripping you. They start hugging by the end of the song.
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They've got a grip of each other's like warm up top and they're singing. And some of them are crying and you're like, Whoa, I think there's a soccer game or this, but I'm not really sure. Like it's crazy. It's amazing.
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Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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I think – someone correct me again in research. Did Kyle Beckerman play or start in the Belgian game in 2014? One of those games, I think he did. I would say this about Kyle, and it's not a disrespect. Yeah. Kyle was a really good player. He was reliable, and you can count on him. And I know, Landon, you have the utmost respect for him playing against him and
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But your body has barely had time to start the recovery process from the game. So now you're tight and you're cramped and that's a...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And with him. And then you get to the 2014 World Cup and you start to ask yourself for a guy like Kyle, is this a step too far? Is this a bridge too far? Like, is this level maybe not for you? And he just silenced any critics, any doubters. He was the glue for that team, for all the big names. And Kyle Beckman did not play in a Belgian game.
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And I thought that was a massive miss from Juergen Klinsmann because he was just – He was the glue. He allowed all the players to go, you know, the players that you know, the household names to go do their thing. And he was incredible during that tournament. So yeah, Bical Beckerman.
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I'm glad you enjoyed it more importantly, Jordan.
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It's all that matters. Thanks, guys. Thanks, Jared.
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10 hour 11 hour flight and you get off the flight so now now your sports scientists and the team are basically saying you're you're useless to us on tuesday we've got to get you on the grass and you're running shoes and we've got to get you moving but by the way we're already implementing game plan and strategy you kind of have to be paying attention to that and you have to be on the grass so that the manager can use you a bit but you're useless you're going to get
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Yeah, thanks, everyone. And thank you to our presenting sponsor, VW, and our Fan Connection sponsor, AT&T. We always miss you at the back end of the week, but we look forward to seeing you next Tuesday with another edition of Unfiltered Soccer.
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You're basically going to get what would in a normal week LD, right? Your two days post game or three days post game, you're basically starting to come back to training. But in this scenario, you're match day minus one, right? So it's a really difficult process for the players coming from Europe to really get up to speed physically for that game on Thursday.
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I'm still sick of seeing you, but it's fine. Cause I actually was, I was on, I was on a, you and I were on a phone call as well earlier today.
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This is it. I mean, look, the thing about Panama, which I'll start with is When in our era, look, US, Mexico and Costa Rica are the best teams traditionally year on year in CONCACAF. Why Panama started, you know, Panama started to creep up as number four. And here's why. The U.S. is so dominant. U.S. players, U.S.
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men's national team players are physically so superior to any other country that we play in CONCACAF. That's it. Now we might get out footballed by Mexico every now and again. Physically and athletically, we are the most dominant. What Panama has done in the last decade is they've matched that. I mean, I've been in the tunnel against Panama multiple times and thought,
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we're not going to necessarily be able to beat them physically. And they come in and oftentimes, and they know this, they try and bully us because they know they're physically more imposing across the board oftentimes than a lot of our teams. And that's not something we're used to because we're so superior athletically as American footballers that we never have to worry about ticking that box.
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That happens.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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But I don't mind it. More importantly, I don't think our, I don't think our listeners mind it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And so Panama poses some real problems.
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Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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They do. And I, and for me, since we started this podcast, but trust when I tell you from today forward, like until the world cup, everything that I say about the U S men's national team is solely for one purpose. is for them to perform optimally in the World Cup. That's all like, that doesn't, nothing else matters.
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And so when I say they have to beat Panama, it's simply, and I banged this drum, it's simply so that they can get another game on the calendar. Like I'm not that concerned. Like I'm not that concerned about like, I want them to win the CONCACAF Nationals. I do, I do, I do, I do.
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I'm more concerned that they're going to get another game that's meaningful, that means something, that has to, they have to win, that they're put in an uncomfortable situation, which finals are. Like, that's what I'm concerned about because of our lack of World Cup qualifying. And I keep saying that, but they have to beat Panama simply just to get to that next game.
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Look, I want them to win the final, but ultimately they lose in the final. I still feel like There's value. There's value in it, right? Yeah. Okay.
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Yeah. You're earning your stripes. And I think that that's how it should be. You know, that's kind of how US men's national team has been, has been, you know, certainly from the, from the psychological standpoint, structured over, uh, in the last two decades, and you have to earn that. And I think it's important.
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And Pochettino, again, because of the delicate balance of naming the roster and roster construction, he's had to piece together some veterans with some guys who he has to give a chance to because, like you said, there's just not enough games for him to get a real good look at certain guys. But ultimately...
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When you pull that shirt on and there's something on the line and there's something at stake, it means more. And that's what these two games for me, hopefully two games, are about.
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Okay. Yeah. I watched the game in Kansas City that I said I was at. It was U.S.-Canada. It was that game. And I love what Jesse Marsh is doing. I think so highly of him as a manager, as a person. And I love what he's doing with that generation of Canadian players. I still think we're the better team, but Mexico for me is always –
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It will forever and always be the biggest challenge psychologically and on the grass for the U.S. men's national team. There's just... the rivalry has, has happened that you always, even when, even when the tide turns, so you're always trying to beat the big bully, right? In our case.
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And then when we turn that tide and we begin to be the dominant team in the region, you're so worried about them coming to a boil again and surpassing you that it still creates a fear factor inside you that, that can't be replicated at any other point in the region. So for me, you know, the, the probably would like to see Canada because I think we can beat them, but,
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They'd shop you abroad. Someone would give you a lowball offer. Well, the transfer's not high enough, and then you've got to stay here at Cincinnati. I'm using Cincinnati as an example. And then the player gets upset, and he gets his head turned. Now, which again, you've heard me bang this drum. This should have happened years ago.
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If you're Seattle, and you look at Cincinnati's best player, and you go, hey, we want to pay him. We're going to pay him. $4 million for him because we were going to go pay $4 million for a guy in Slovenia as a striker, but we want the striker in Cincinnati who scored 20 goals last year. Go pay for him. People were so afraid to do that within the league because God knows why.
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I have my own opinions, but I think that they didn't do it because they thought they could do better. They thought they could go abroad and do better. Some of the best players in MLS are already in MLS.
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So go get them.
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I think your point is fair that there was a MLS 1.0 and 2.0 when it comes to expansion teams and that the league wasn't as mature. I agree with that. What I would say is there's been, we've seen so many, I say so many, enough to convince me that an expansion team can compete. You know, as recently as St.
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A neurodiversity documentary. What's that mean? You're going to have to Google that because you should know. And then I'm going to sit down at Finch Farm at Everton with David Moyes, Jordan Pickford, Leighton Baines, Seamus Coleman on something separate. Probably going to call or be on the desk for the Everton-Manchester United game. Yeah, doing a whole bunch of stuff, man.
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Louis, who was in the, you know, obviously made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals. You know, the original was Chicago Fire in 1998 under Bob Bradley, who were a bunch of world beaters. The team that Bob put together, like, what? I can honestly say this to you, and it's so hard to compare generations. I'm one of these people who finds it difficult.
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I can assure you Bob Bradley's best team could step on the field in its prime this coming MLS season. and being at the top.
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They had some bad guys. When I say bad guys, they had some absolute winners.
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Stoichkov. I mean, young Josh Wolfe.
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They were amazing. Zach Thornton and Goal. Seattle Sounders competed. LAFC has competed. Atlanta United, under the tutelage of our dear friend Carlos Bocanegra, they competed early on. So we'll see. I mean, I think San Diego is such an interesting one because it falls into the – The LA, LA, New York, Miami box. People are going to want to go there. It's a destination.
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For you, look, we know that you bleed Galaxy, right? Will you support that team?
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Will you go there and take your kids there?
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Yeah, it's going to be awesome. I saw a NWSL game there right before the World Cup or Olympics, and it was Seattle versus San Diego, like the send-off game before. And it was an ECNL tournament for my daughter, and it was sold out. I mean, that's an awesome stadium.
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Really, really cool.
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LD, what's happening? Back. USLNT on USMNT. Big segment for us. We love trying to keep up to date with all the US men's national team players, both home and abroad. Big, big, interesting news, both on the injury front and the performance front. The injury front has my eyes really wide open.
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So it's going to be cool.
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Thank you, brother.
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Yeah, look, I think with, like I said, I love Gio, man. I love him as the player, one of the very few players we can hold up and say, people ask us all the time, Landon, who's an American world-class player? He's one of them. He's one of a few players who have the talent, the natural talent. to make it at the top level.
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And, and for that reason alone, you want to see him playing week in week out, have an impact. Now, look, I know, you know, Claudio, who we both know and played with and is, is heavily in charge of his career and steering it, which is, I think a good thing. And, and,
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What I would say about that is Gio and his representatives and all of these players who aren't quite getting a sniff, literally Landon have, what are we in almost March?
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About four months to figure out like, Hmm. Okay. I've got a massive, massive career defined decision to make in the next four months as to where I'm going to be next year. Right? Because that's it.
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So, so you think you have, you have to imagine, you know, um, so many of these players will, I'm hoping, and if they're, you know, if they're listening, please talk to your agents and your representatives and figure it out because you have to be playing going into a world cup and you, and that move has to be made in, um, in the summer. And look, I think regarding the injuries, um,
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i was bummed man i was really really bummed with ricardo pepe's injury because flow's been out and and flo before he got injured was looking the part as a nine right and then he got injured and ricardo pepe kind of grabbed that shirt with with both hands and both fists and kind of made it his own so like okay this is good um and now both are injured um tillman
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So recovering, Serginio Dest recovering. Look, the only good part about this is, and you've dealt with injuries as well. The good part about it is these are young men, right? These aren't players who are over the hill and you don't know if they're going to come back. These guys will hit the ground running.
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And they'll be one excited to be back on the grass because everyone hates being injured, but also like they understand, I believe they understand that time is of the essence. And like, if they can come back stronger, fitter and healthier, sometimes that injury layoff is actually the rest you needed. Nobody wants it. Nobody wants it.
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But like, imagine coming back 14 months before the world cup with a renewed sense of optimism, spirit, health. Like I think we'll be okay. But right now I'm playing joy for playing, but right now I'm like bummed, you know?
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It's fun to watch. And I think, look, I think that's what... Big credit has to go to Weston McKinney because you hear a lot, you see him on the pitch and his attitude and his energy is infectious, right?
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And then if you're close enough to the inside, you and I aren't on the inside, but we're close enough to the inside to hear stories about like his attitude and his personality and how bubbly he is and how much he affects the group in a positive way. And then you say something like that.
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He's a captain event is, and then it all checks out because if you can be an American and be, and where the captain's armband events, even for a short period of time, you're doing nearly everything right. So look, I think what gets everyone excited about, about this group is, is,
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the way is and McKinney and Christian Pulisic and Tyler Adams, you know, these are, these are players where you're like, God, if everyone can be healthy and everyone can get enough games under the belt together, Anthony Robinson, my God. Then, then you're like, yeah, we should feel optimistic about having a good run in, in 2026. So yeah, fingers crossed.
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Everyone gets healthy on the pitch and playing regularly in the next 14 months. But this is a continual story.
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Yeah, and I think that I was on the desk for that game. I was in the studio with NBC. And yeah, it was a great game. I thought that Liverpool handled themselves well prior to the game. My initial thought, which kind of came to fruition in the game, was that Moyes was back and he would know that Everton team can't go toe-to-toe with Liverpool. They can't just play them off the park.
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That wouldn't happen. Liverpool's too talented. So sometimes, as we talked about, you have to tell your team to roll your sleeves up and go earn the right to play. And by the way, get in their face, dump them on the floor and see if they like it. Cause most of the teams at the top don't like that. And that's what Everton did.
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And they made it tough, made it tough for the midfielders to have a clean look into the strikers, which we know is, is Liverpool's front three is sensational. And it was a good game of football and Liverpool handled that and took the lead. And I thought it was great. I thought the emotion in the stadium, both the reds and the blues was fantastic.
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And then an epic winner by, excuse me, equalized by Tarkovsky. And I was on the others. I was on at Anfield, I think in 2015 or 16, I can't remember exactly, but Phil Jagielka hit a screamer into the coffin in 2014 into the cop end. And yeah, It was from 22 yards out. It was one of the most amazing feelings.
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Yeah, incredible. So it reminded me of that. And it was, you know, what I said on air was this. Darby's have the, the, the emotion of Darby's has gotten lost. Guys are friendly. Everyone's on Tik TOK and Instagram. Their home is hugging in the tunnel. I remember the days you'll walk down the tunnel. You didn't look at anybody and you walked out the door.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Now it's like your best mate, you're giving a high five. And that, that kind of, that kind of renewed a sense of optimism of like, okay, Darby's aren't dead. Like there's still, there's still, there's still some goodness in it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
I think it's four wins, one draw, and one loss. Unbeaten in five, I think. Yeah, well done, David Moyes.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
My guy, LD, what's happening?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
It was interesting. So Saka, we know, has been out for a bit. Martinelli's out. Jesus and Havertz, their two number nines were out. Havertz tore a hamstring in warm weather training in Dubai. I'm thinking, every time I was at warm weather training, I didn't get out of first gear. So I'm not sure how he did that. But unfortunately, they didn't have a striker.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
So leading in, it was like, who are they going to be? Are they going to play Raheem Sterling at the false nine? It ended up being Trussard at the false nine, Sterling to the left, and Wanyeri out to the right, the young 17-year-old. It just didn't really work. Nothing really clicked. And then at the end of the game, which was interesting, LD, because we had heard, we, within our NBC group,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
and heard we don't even know like there's people that were saying like hey mckell marino can play striker and he hadn't played striker in his career like there was no games where he played as a recognized striker so the only thing we could really think of was like you know in training some guys are like really good like jack yelka and wayne rooney would put the gloves on and they'd jump in goal and you'd be like yo in a pinch these guys could be third goalkeeper like these kind of crazy rumors so we had heard on the inside that like hey mckell marino could be an option like
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
All right, we'll keep that in our back pocket. Sure enough, that front three didn't work. He brings on Mikel Moreno late on in like an ugly nil-nil and two brilliant, brilliant finishes. A header where he just snaps it into the corner and then a left-footed strike that just guides in. And I'm thinking this, I think, is their number nine for the run-in because they have to win.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
No. Um, look, I think, I think Spurs both, both mid table below mid table teams, uh, United is a complete overhaul for me. Um, And we've seen that under Ruben Amer and he'll get, hopefully he'll get some time to do that. I think he will. And it's possible to call it a fun, exciting team to play one way. He's getting a lot of players, big players back fit.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
I expected Spurs to kind of run away with the game, but in the end it was one nil. So yeah, again, a long way to go before both of those teams are relevant.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Yeah, well, I mean, look, I think jealousy, number one. I think Coachella Valley Invitational is like, I wish I had that when I was playing or when we were playing. Your team would just try and figure out where you could – Pitch up in a hotel for two weeks and play possibly one other MLS team, maybe a college team.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
This is going to be an ongoing conversation that's targeted to start in 2027, 2028 season. We're going to get big news about this constantly. And that's good because we can talk about it. Look, you and I have been owners in the USL. I'm currently an owner in MLS and NWSL. I attack this conversation, not with any bias, but with a history in this country at every level. And you and I share that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
You talked about some of the requirements. So let's just start there. Has to be a minimum of 12 teams at launch, expanding to 14 teams by year three. Teams must be in the Eastern, Central, and Pacific time zones. 75% of teams must be in metro areas with 1 million plus people. Stadiums, as you mentioned, must be enclosed with at least 15,000 seats. That's a big one for me.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Ownership groups must demonstrate financial viability to sustain operations for at least five years. OK, so those are the main talking points, if you will. It's going to be hard. It's going to be hard to to compete. You know, look. Now, I think there's two sides to this. MLS started, right? There's been a bunch of iterations of what soccer looks like in America.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
1994, the World Cup comes here, and then MLS starts in 1996. There is no soccer in America. No real soccer in America to speak of. There's teams. You now have, we've talked about this at the top of the show. We now have one of the more amazing leagues in the world, right, in MLS. You're now going to start a 12 team league and compete essentially for eyeballs and viewerships with the MLS.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
And people will say, no, that's not the case. Kind of is the case.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
You will, you will compete with MLS and it's going to be really difficult. I think to, to create momentum in those, in those, um, cities, um, And create stadiums. By the way, a 15,000 seat stadium costs a heck of a lot of money.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Yeah. And what I would say is there's probably a lot of loss going into that. So you're going to have to have investors very similar to how it was in MLS in the early days where you have to be prepared to lose before you win. And I think... going back to our pro-promotion relegation conversation, if USL in their statement said that is a possibility but not really at the start, I like it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
You know, you and I said that. Like maybe promotion relegation in this country does actually originate in USL and then becoming a viable first division that they say will rival the MLS and they create a promotion relegation model because then it's not pie in the sky. Then you have real metrics to measure whether that can live or die here in America.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
So, yeah, the fact that it's moved forward. We both said crazy when we're talking about the MLS preview, like it's back. When you're not on the grass, like when you're not a player or a coach inside of it, it seems so short. Now, when you're a player, you're like, oh, my God, I can't believe it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
You look like you might be playing golf after this show.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
To know that they go back down. Well, just period in general, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Yeah. I think it's, you know, and again, we don't, we sit here now, we have the same, we have the same statement from the USL that everyone else in America and the world can read. We don't have the ins and outs, but you know, I start to then piece together what can they do differently. Right. I think what I'd like to see as an example is create, create a luxury tax, say, Hey, you
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
You five want to go spend super big? Go spend super big. We're going to create a luxury tax and parachute payments and a pyramid that we can actually utilize this. And so if you're the New York Yankees, spend and we'll trickle it down to the Milwaukee Brewers and Oakland Athletics. Like, I'm... I'm okay with that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
you know, we, we just, you know, it's not been long enough, but this on the outside, I mean, we were just taught a couple of shows ago, right? It feels like a couple of shows ago we were talking about the MLS cup final. So, uh, yeah, I'm excited for a multitude of reasons going into the season. I think, I think we're seeing which we're going to get into. Um,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Like start create another, another sort of system that works differently than MLS and see if it works. And people, people ask, is it, is that then the, if there's success, is that then, um, that steps towards like a merger? Um, what I would say is right now, everyone's going to tell, you know, the example that I would give is PGA golf is the epicenter of the golf universe, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
No way some wild golf lead named Live Golf is going to compete. Well, guess what? Well, guess what? We ain't that far removed from the launch of Live Golf, and I think there's going to be a merger coming soon, right? So on the surface, everyone's going to say no, and I think that's probably the company line and probably the more accurate line.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
But if there is some success with a USL being a first division and some sort of luxury tax or promotion relegation, There's always a conversation at the table. But again, we're far from that.
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MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
It's time for the Fan Connection presented by AT&T. Every week, we invite you, the listener, to connect with us by submitting your questions. The best way to grow the game of soccer in the U.S. is to keep asking questions and keep talking about the sport we all love. At AT&T, connecting changes everything. And on USLNT, our connections with you will help grow the game.
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Yeah, AT&T fan connection time, as you know it. Also, Jordan's favorite time of the week because she gets airtime. Jordan, welcome in. JR.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
which should have happened probably a decade ago, but we're starting to see some real big names changing clubs within the league for big fees, which again, I think is the way forward. And that's, that's the way the global market works, you know, interleague wise. So I'm excited about that. Obviously excited to, you know, I think that Galaxy are really well poised to make another run.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Like if they got a Kevin De Bruyne, they can make the playoffs? A Kevin De Bruyne could work, yes. Um, I'm absolutely not available. If it's pickleball, I'm in, but if it's soccer completely out, um, yeah, I tend to think again with, without a ton of knowledge with the team, just looking at the roster additions, they can compete for a, for a bottom end playoff spot.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
But, um, you know, I, I w I would say that would, that would be success, um, because I'll get a ton of momentum from being a first year team in that, in that, uh, city with, with the fans behind them. Um, Look, do you need a DP? What no one tells you in this league, and Landon and I will tell you, everybody needs a DP. Good DPs are really hard to find. I can tell you this from experience.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Teams from mid-level European leagues will basically... they know you're an MLS club and you'll overpay. So they, they, they hike the fee up for a mid level DP, which isn't an instant impact type of DP. So now you're overpaying for what, for a guy you don't really know much about. And then if you want to go get a big, big, big player, you have to pay money.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
So that mid range where most of the teams are operating in is really tricky to bring in a good DP. So just be patient.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Good question, though.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
That's a good point. What was the question? I know the original teams. What was the question? Oh, can one of them get over the hump?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
I think, I think, Miami is poised to make another run again at the Shield and possibly the Cup. So yeah, there's a lot of really good storylines in MLS.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Yeah. I mean, it's hard to argue with Landon's point about, like, can you be a good team and have a good run and get into the playoffs and feel really good about yourselves? Yeah. And then you run into the buzzsaw of what is LA galaxy. And then you're like, Jesus, you know, like, but that was built in a very short period of time too. Right. Like the most recent galaxy success. So yeah,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
I mean, the one question I would have is, am I still a part of the Red Bull? Like, am I a part of this history? Because I was a Metro star.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
I don't know if that's gone away. But what I would say, though, the negative for those three teams, we said Dallas, New England, and Red Bull, is you've had more cracks at it than anybody else.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
And by the way, and you went through moments where you spent. Red Bull spent, by the way. Marquez, Henri, Cahill, like they spent and still no success, like big success to speak of. So hopefully they get that right.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
I got one. I got one. Go ahead. Let me ask you before I answer because you're well more versed in this. LAFC, LA Galaxy is huge, yes?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
I mean, relatively, yeah. Is San Jose, LA Galaxy big?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
It used to be, right? It used to be, yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Let me say this though. If you're clever and you now have Bruce Arena up in the north and you now have San Diego, allow the LA team to do their thing and almost bypass it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
If you're San Jose and you're San Diego, be like, these teams in the middle are crap.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
They're not, but like, like create a marketing scheme that says we own out, we own California and, and it'd be, and it could be clever and do San Jose LA because of Sue San Jose, San Jose, San Diego, because I feel like San Jose LA galaxy, which used to be big has kind of dissipated recently because of the LA hell traffico.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Oh, what a question. Bees. Is he lobbying for himself, by the way? He might be. It might be a Houston angle.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
I don't mind that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Come on.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
First of all, thank you, Bees, for the love.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
He's carried us on occasion.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Okay. Great question. Let me give this a thought. I know one that jumps off the page for me. The one that jumps off the page for me is Brian McBride and Columbus because those two are synonymous. I don't know if that's the final answer.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Yeah. You know, we're ready. It's been a, it's been a good off season. I think when, when you feel good about, about where you are as a club, you, every club has to trim the fat, you know, for us, we didn't feel like there needed to be a massive overhaul. We felt, we felt very, very good about things. And obviously bringing in Jack McGlynn, I thought was a real coup for Pat Onstead and our club.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
You've got a statue. The MLS Cup MVP is named. I go skiing one week, golfing the next.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
All right, listen. DeMarcus Beasley.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Go on. I'm thinking about how great... DC United was in the early days. Is it like an Echeverry shout? Who would be the one?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Okay, interesting. That's a great shout. Throwbacks from Tim Howard, by the way. Throwbacks. I love that. I got the Bumblebee uniform on my bride. I've got Echeverry with the Breathe Right strip on his nose. I got all sorts of things going on. Yeah, I love that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Yeah. Well, not only did I watch, I watched it build up. So, so let me, let me just say, I, I am a Chicago Blackhawks fan. I know crazy and shout out to the Chicago Blackhawks. They've treated me amazing every time I've been there. Um,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
I went on recently, I went on, I went to a game, uh, they played Edmonton Oilers and, um, it was, they again, rolled out the red carpet for me and I was on the pregame show and this was prior to the four nations. And they were basically trying to draw that parallel, um, on the pregame show. Like what's going to be like for these players in season, go play for their country, dot, dot, dot. Um,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
And we just talked about how difficult it is in season to kind of stop, pause with your club and then go play for your country. But what an honor it is. And it was a great, great conversation. I watched the buildup to the game. And it was P.K. Subban and Mark Messier, the legend. And Mark Messier was talking about the rivalry, but he was talking about wearing the sweater for Canada.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
And he's like, I got this. It was 84, 90 or something. I'm getting those years wrong. He's like, I got...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
gretzky on one side i've got uh mario mario lemieux on the other and i shouldn't even be on the ice and i'm getting goosebumps listening to this guy talk about like canadian hockey right um and then you and then you watch the game and like i get that there's rest and there's management and i get all that right and you get all that and we watch the nba and the in-season tournament and what what that means and whether it's been good or bad or whether players compete you and i know
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
So we feel great about that. And yeah. And Ponce is, you know, getting a full preseason under his belt and feeling like he can hit the ground running. So some more pieces to be added, but early on, really excited for kind of the group that we have, you know, that we've given Ben Olsen. So looking forward to it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
that when you play for your team, your club team, right? And then you go into an in-season tournament, whether it's, whether it's you pause and you got, you got to come back to the States to play in a World Cup qualifier, or you go play in Champions League, whatever it is in season where you're not playing, you know, you're playing a different competition. You and I know you go full tilt.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
There is no day off. And, the puck drops for US Canada and these dudes drop their gloves and fight. I'm like, this is mid, this is mid season. And there's three fights inside, inside the first nine, three fights in the first nine minutes or something like that. Nine seconds, nine seconds. And I'm thinking to myself, well, that was incredible.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
And then I watched and I remember thinking, I remember watching the first, obviously the game started to take shape. The first and second period, I have never seen a faster hockey game. Like it was moving at the sound of speed. These guys, and by the way, you've been around hockey players. Hockey players for me are the best athletes. The best athletes. They can skate.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Behind the scenes when they're warming up, they're juggling soccer balls. They're shooting basketball. They are the best athletes when it comes to being a professional athlete. It was an insane game.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Amazing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Yeah, thank you, everybody. Always a pleasure spending time with you. Thanks to our presenting sponsor, VW, and our fan connection sponsor, AT&T. Have an amazing week. Look forward to seeing you back next Tuesday with another edition of Unfiltered Soccer.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
You are. It's not normal February day here. Maybe it is. It's like We're in between snowstorms in New York. It's absolutely Baltic outside, but here we are.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
And the interesting thing about the San Jose-Bruce Arena marriage is you've been an attacking player in his system. I have obviously as a goalkeeper. But the one thing Bruce does above anything else is he gets players to run through a freaking wall for him. And by the way, once you do that, and anybody who's played for Bruce knows, once you do that, do what you want.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Like front four, go express yourself, go enjoy. There's like a blueprint and a foundation that he implements. And then after that, that front four is really going to enjoy themselves.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Best city in the world, so I'm here.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Yeah, agreed.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Yeah. I think the surprise for me, which will, um, again, so we'll circle back to so many of these topics is, is. Columbus, I'm really interested. You look at their overall body of work in the last two seasons. It's been phenomenal. Last year, okay, they had a blip and they got knocked out, and that's kind of the ups and the downs of what MLS playoffs are.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
It's the highs and lows, and if you can upset Columbus, it's amazing. But if you're Columbus, you're saying, hang on a minute, we've had an amazing 24 months, and last year we have nothing to show for it. But I still think When you look at that team, it's arguably one of the best teams in MLS based on what they've done over the last few seasons consecutively.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
So I would imagine they're going to be there thereabouts come the end of the season.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
What's been going on?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Well, I think speaking to Robin, one of the things is you talk about Bruce and being someone that you want to play for. That's what Robin is. He is straight between the eyes. He doesn't make you guess on what he wants. He's got a really good football brain in terms of how he wants his teams to play and set them up.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
And look, the good thing about hiring Robin back in Toronto because he has such history with Toronto is – we don't really know what Toronto is. Right. So when you, when you go back to when they, when they snatched up Michael Bradley and Josie Alstor, they're like, we're spending big money. We have cornerstone pieces and this is who we are. And that was successful.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
And then kind of coming out of that as, as you know, Josie and Michael and a few others that, that started to come to the end of their career, were they still about the big money signings? Were they trying to bring homegrown players through that? By the way, Nothing wrong with that. That's a natural progression of any football club.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
And you try and hang on to what you used to do, but maybe it doesn't work. And so what I like about Robin and having him in the door, Robin Frazier at Toronto FC, is he can sit down and has sat down and said, right, what does this look like for us? Who do we want to be? Let me know. And I can transition the club to have success going forward. So I'm looking forward to that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Totally. And what you're saying is
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
is there's more than one way to win football matches i think we get so caught up and you talk about the pep guardiola effect across global football you get so caught up and you have to do it this way no you don't you have to do it in a way that wins football matches but that can look it can look 10 20 different ways so yeah and we're gonna get to david moyes later but he's a perfect example right yeah you know he's not it's not the sexy young coach he just wins he knows how to win right and so that's right
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
You know, hats off to the MLS and the owners, you know, and the players that built this league and, again, the commissioner's office. Because when you have the luxury of where you and I sit and having been in the earliest stages, I mean, I was – I entered the league 24 months after it first started. So it started in 96, and I –
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
my first game, you know, or my first sign in 98, like that wasn't a football club that I signed for. It was like, uh, some people put some team together. Like it was, it was crazy. Um, and so like the growth of this league, you know, and look, it took some real hard decisions, um, instead of fast vision and, and, and time.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
And wow, we've gotten to a place that is just so impressive in terms of, in terms of valuation of clubs, stadiums, fan base, um, the Apple TV television contract, the big name that currently messy playing in the league. Right. Like, yeah. I mean, you couldn't, you couldn't have imagined it other than the fact that there were a few people who did imagine it and made it, made it happen.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
get the same offer at you know crystal palace as i did this is happening already as i do at charlotte fc i'm going to choose charlotte right because they because they want to be here no i for i think for so long the and you you live this more than i did but you constantly saw big global stars come to mls come to la what do they come for if they had a checklist and there was a one two and a three
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Soccer would have been under number three, right? It was for everything else. It was for lifestyles, for all the other things. We have that draw and that allure. So, you know, once we continue to get to where we hope we are, like money-wise, competition-wise, yeah, I think people will float through the gates for sure.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
Don't do that. For all of our listeners, I am a man of the people. I don't get ski weeks. Don't have that. Landon is posh. This is what we've always known, but that's what makes us a dynamic duo. I'm actually headed over to London tonight. Oh, you're going tonight? For two weeks, yeah. I'm shooting a neurodiversity documentary. Going to sit down. A what? It's unsurprising.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
MLS 2025 Season Preview, USMNT Injuries, The Merseyside Derby, and USL's New First Division
And look, I think this is going to, I really do. I think this is going to change the trajectory of the league because we're able to, you're able to now give these guys options within the league, like before, before what would happen. Right. And we've seen this. If you're really good at Cincinnati, you're a top player. You're like, I want more. The option was always to go abroad.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Weston, Tim Weah, and Gio Reyna, in this matter, it's important that U.S. Soccer and Mauricio Pochettino say, absolutely zero chance I'm playing without those three.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
It then becomes about problem solving and leadership, right? And then you crave that. Most athletes crave that. And then you want more. So then you go into your national team. You're like, no, no, hang on. I got a voice. I know how to fix this problem. And you step up and you stand out. So I think the leadership aspect is a really good one.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Really, really a lot of fun.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I'm just waiting my turn. Go ahead. I hate it. I hate it. You and I talk about this. Why? Well, yeah. So I hate it because ultimately, and this is not us talking here in 2024, this is going to be the same conversation on everybody's lips in 2030. The travel, that distance of travel is going to wear on teams.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Now I know, I know the teams that have to come from South America in those opening games will have quote unquote ample rest, but the
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
The fact of the matter is when you get to the later stages and I'm talking last four or get to a final, I think there'll be a team, if there's a team from that started the tournament in South America, who I think is going to have a disadvantage because of that travel for teams who don't.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
A cumulative... Yes, because... Because these guys do this all the time.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Totally. Totally. But in the midst of a tournament where these guys... Look, when you travel back to... If you're a Brazilian and you travel back to somewhere in the Premier League in London, you've traveled back to... Paris and play for Paris Saint-Germain, whatever the case is. The fact of the matter is you don't actually have to perform on the one-off. You can. Maybe you take the weekend off.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
It's not going to be the case with these teams. And so I just, yes, I know they know how to travel on first-class planes and charter planes and get their sleep right. I ultimately think travel is a disadvantage. In 2014, we traveled more than any team in Brazil as a U.S. team. We had the most miles logged, and it was hard.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
It's not the reason we lost in that particular case, but it could be, and I don't love it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
The other World Cup that was announced was 2034 in Saudi Arabia. And it's an interesting one because Qatar was not that long ago. I mean, from today, it wasn't that long ago. By 2034, it will be. But playing a World Cup in the winter has its... But then there's also a benefit for the European players in the middle of their season. It's not at the end.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
It throws scheduling into a little bit of a loop in terms of league schedule. But what's your thoughts on the winter World Cup in Saudi Arabia?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And of course- Where was this? It was in Switzerland. Oh, you were in Switzerland. Switzerland.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
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Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
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Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
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Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
OLD, the Premier League. Yeah, it was Derby weekend in Manchester, my former home. Good old city of Manchester. It was a big one. It was a big one for so many reasons because City had to win, right? Like they had to get back on track. And Man United under new manager Ruben Amaran, they need something, right? They need a marker.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
As you start to build your team, you have to put a marker down and feel like you're building towards the right things. For all of you who didn't see the game, and I'm guessing most of our listeners saw the game, it was fairly dull. It was kind of a little bit of a shadow boxing match, but then it exploded into life, as you saw. Ahmad with the winning penalty. Awful giveaway from Mateus Nunez.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Bruno Fernandes, obviously, equalized. And then City, of course, trying to push for the winner. But in the end, it was a red weekend.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah, I mean, Nunez gives a pass away, and then, of course, you try with all your might to make up for it and then give away the penalty. Compound mistakes lead to goals in soccer. So, you know, that's not something that Pep Guardiola can legislate for, right? Ahmad Diallo, I think the great thing, and you know this, is when a new manager comes in, it gives everybody a new opportunity.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
No, no, no.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And oftentimes... flowers bud that we didn't even expect. And Diallo, because of the way the system works, there are crucial pieces in Amram's system. And one of those is the wide areas in particular. The wingback, the winger, depending on what he plays. But Ahmad has seemed to pick the system up really quickly, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And so he's had a ton of good performances to the extent where you're looking at it. And I would argue that since Amram's come in, he's been the best performer of anybody. Obviously, there's been some good performances through Bruno Fernandes, who we expect, and Hoyland has kind of come to life. But Ahmad, for sure, has been one of the big bright spots for me.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
That's why I need a manager who can pull that out of particularly a lot of these young players. Look, so much to unpack here, topic by topic, when it comes to the Derby. First one.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
for me kyle walker and most of us saw this kyle walker and and hoyland there's a coming together um where you see this a lot in in in soccer right there's there's you get angry and you're not supposed to you're not supposed to fight because there's violent conduct right so if you raise your hands on someone you're going to get red cards so oftentimes players in their anger they come together and they like put each other's head on so much oh yeah i'm gonna headbutt you
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Right. And so Hoyland initiates the movement, but it's not a head, but it's a coming together. And Kyle Walker leans in. And as they're touching foreheads, Kyle Walker then goes down like a sack of potatoes. And which is, you know, it's shithousery, which is one of my favorite words and actions. And so, you know, I think they both got booked, if I'm not mistaken. But yeah, I mean, Kyle Walker.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I was like, bro, come on. I actually don't mind it. I think sometimes when, you know, I think the referee in those moments, I like when the referee is like strong and basically looks at him just like, get up. Like, stop this nonsense. Everybody get up. There was nothing in it. You're getting a booking. You're getting a booking. Let's go.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Anyway. There's a follow on from that after the match. Cause Hoyland wasn't ready to let it go. I'll let you read the quote.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I love it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Here's why. Because... Hoyland, his price tag's too big for him, and he's a young player. Right. Price tag's too big.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Maybe he, he, I would say maybe it's not his fault.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
He's underperformed. He's underperformed.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Well, it's his fault. He's underperformed. A hundred percent.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
That, but not, I like him as, as a young striker. What I would say is since you've gotten to United, your team has stunk. You've underperformed. And by the way, if they had won this Darby last season, He wouldn't have said that. It's really easy to kick city when they're down. So this social media, I think it was on Instagram, wherever it lives, It's very convenient to me.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
What I prefer is that he just keeps doing the business. And look, you can say whatever you want on your own social media. Again, it's for me to judge at this point, but it's not for me to do. If you want to do it, that's fine. It's just a very convenient manner. I think he got caught up in the emotion of it because as I said, had they beat a title winning city last season,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
in that season and they won the Derby, he wouldn't have said those things. No, there's no chance he would have. Okay, so that's my point. I agree.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah, it's an interesting one for me, LD, because... The same decision was taken, but they're not the same for me. Because... What do you mean? Well, I think going forward, it's not going to be the same, right? I think there's two players at different points of their United career.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
So, yeah, I mean, to your point, there's going to be a time in that game where Ameren's saying, I wish I could have them. But I think when you're a manager and you take such a strong stance about player selection, you know that going into it. You basically are telling yourself... this is a big decision and there's going to be some fallout from this, but I have to, for the greater good of the team.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And I think, I think his quotes in one of our amazing producers, we'll probably put this up on our screen at some point. There was a quote from Ameren. He named a number of things that you have to do to get in his team. Right. And, and, Any number of those things is what Garnaccio and Rashford weren't doing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah, and look, here's the quote. He said, for me, it's important, the performance in training, the performance in games, the way you dress, the way you eat, the way you engage with your teammates, the way you push your teammates, all of that's important, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
So what he's basically saying there is either one or all of those things, probably most of those things, are something he doesn't like and he's not seeing. The issue, what I would say, and this speaks to the... enormity of the job and the task that Ruben Alvarez has is this club has been littered with mediocrity for so long. The standards have dropped. There's not a lot of leaders.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Like, by the way, for the record, I was at United three years. You can say I was amazing or I sucked. It doesn't matter. What I do know is I was inside those walls for four years. And I can assure you, Sir Alex Ferguson, let me scroll, would never have had to say, the performance in training isn't good. In games, the way you dress, you know why?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Because Gary Neville and Roy Keane would have been like, what are you wearing? That ain't correct. You eat like crap. Sort yourself out, right? Because the leadership structure at Manchester United was so strong within the dressing room. So that would have never had to, that would have never had to been said on the outside. And so look, I think when I look at Marcus Rashford,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
He's a player I really like. I think he's a player who at one point in time, a couple of years ago, did some things on the pitch that we thought this kid is world-class. He's playing for England. He's going to continue to be world-class. I think what we've seen is maybe he's not the guy who just always wants the ball.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Maybe he's a squad player who wants to kind of fit in, get in the slipstream and be a really, really good Premier League player. And by the way, That's actually okay because I think some of the things he does off the field are brilliant. I think he's a top talent, whether that's at Manchester United or not. His time at Manchester United feels like it could be coming to an end.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
That's my personal opinion. Now, Garnaccio, supremely talented. Young player. He's got magic in his boots. Can play on the left side, can play on the right side. This is a matter of he's not been schooled since he's gotten to the club. There's been zero leadership internally in the dressing room.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
He's somebody who needs direction and boundaries, and I think Amram could be the guy who gives it to him.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
All of us. I think why I give Todd Boley so much credit is because I was one of those people. Confused, right? We're all confused by...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
um you know he comes from a baseball background right and so we understand when when you look at city currently you look at everton and nottingham forest right these are teams that were um knocked back by profit and sustainability rules right there was there was it was a mess for some of these clubs they're getting fined and docked points and all that and todd bowley's come in and he's basically said we're gonna we're gonna
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
only sign young players under a certain age. We're going to extend these contracts instead of giving them two, you know, three-year contracts with an option. These are like seven, eight, nine-year contracts. We've never seen that, right? And to add to the confusion, right, with Todd Boley, it was, he had Graham Potter as a manager, Lampard was in there, Tuchel, Pochettino, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
So it was chaotic. And maybe by design, but the thing about Todd Boley that I found interesting was when you're in the position like he is, and things aren't going right, you automatically come out and defend yourself. He didn't do that. Which added to the mystery.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
When your team stinks and what you're trying to put in place isn't working, these young players weren't working, this bloated squad of 30 plus players wasn't working. You continually bring in managers who have to deal with this bloated squad and then you sack them very quickly. This sounds and feels like chaos. Now that the dust is settling, and Maresca, by the way, Enzo Maresca, hats off to you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
LD, what's up, brother? Listen, I just want to start by saying it was so good having you on my side of the country. You don't often come this way to New York City because you are very much a Cali boy. Did you enjoy it? Please tell me why.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah, look, I'm so excited for Gio Reyna because… He's a kid, right? So he'd hate me for saying he's a kid because he'd probably look at me and say, no, I'm a grown man because this is what kids do, right? I tell my daughter the same thing. She's a little girl. She's like, no, I'm not. I'm going to college. She still has a lot to learn, right? As they all do.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
You can already probably have manager of the season. He's doing that good of a job. is he trimmed the squad. He basically said, you're Raheem Sterling's and you're people who I don't have any use for, which is fine. Your surplus requirements, feel free to move on. Right? He did at the beginning of the season.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Then he basically said, look, we are in a European competition, a Premier League competition. I'm going to have a Premier League 11, most likely, and then I'm going to have a midweek 11. Right? And the two aren't really going to blend. I'm not going to chop and change too much. These are going to... And that's what those young players needed.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
They needed a belief in... Because what was happening before was the squad was so big with these talented young players. It was always, okay... well, this will be my center back pairing today. And then next week, I'll do another center back pairing. And then you'll play on the wing one week. It didn't work, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And Enzo Marusco has come in and has been so incredibly strong and said, if I'm the manager, this is how we're going to do it. And we're starting to see the success of the youngest team in the Premier League. I mean, absolutely flying high. And look, the talent is there. Clearly, Tal Boli wasn't signing bad players. He was signing really talented young players. But with that comes some worry.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And right now they're getting it right. I mean, there's a lot of surprises in this season. City's downfall being one of them. Where Nottingham Forest is, and we'll talk about that in a second. That's a surprise, but I mean, Jesus. Chelsea and Liverpool at the top of the table battling it out. That for me is just like, you would have never thought it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Well, by so many accounts, he's certainly the top goalkeeper on the planet for a lot of reasons, club and country, but in the top three, of course. I jumped out of my seat when I saw it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I just think when there's a reaction save and that save is basically behind the goalkeeper, so a goalkeeper has to, in a last-ditch effort, reach behind themselves to claw a ball out, that's when the save starts to gain momentum and kind of become otherworldly. And for me, that was that. It was a reaction. We know his reactions are really good.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And for him to be able to claw it out when it was clearly behind his body, nearly behind the line, those are the most impressive. So I thought my hat's off to him again. But he makes so many of those that you're almost like, this somewhat becomes routine. But yeah, look, Nottingham Forest, fourth place in the Premier League. I could have never imagined that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I mean, when I think about before the season, what you'd have got better odds on, or what would have surprised you more? Would it be Nottingham Forest in fourth place, or would it be Manchester City's downfall? I'm not sure you'd get odds on either of them.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Why I'm so excited for Gio Reyna is because he's a generational talent. You know, people constantly come up to me and you. I could, if I clicked on a search engine right now, they'd say, when's America going to produce the next great... world-class player. And when are we going to win a world cup? That's the question on everyone. This is a world-class player. He has, he has generational talent.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah, it's interesting because you never want to see managers get sacked or lose their job. The fact of the matter is in the Premier League, with the business being so high and the financial structure that is global football, managers will get sacked in the Premier League. And the fact of the matter is Wolves and Southampton are firmly rooted in the bottom three and they're just not playing well.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I think it's a cautionary tale, and this is a big debate, is do you go and play expansive football or do you just try and stay in the Premier League by hook or by crook? And I think you have to have a plan A, B, and possibly C going into the season so that it doesn't feel like a radical change when you do it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Look, what I would say is I'm very interested to see what names pop up for these jobs because both of these teams, although there's still time because of when the when the sackings happened, both of these teams are going to struggle to stay up. And so you now have to find a really good manager who's willing to take that challenge on, not easy.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
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Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
He and Christian and maybe one or two other have generational talent that we've, that we've rarely ever seen. I'm excited for him because he's 22 years old. He's a baby. Do you know how much pressure he's had on his shoulders? His dad, who we played with, is a captain of the US men's national team. Those aren't easy shoes to fill. You then have to go over to Europe.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Okay, time for everybody's favorite segment of the week. Well, if it's not everyone's favorite, it's certainly Jordan's favorite because she gets to have air time. Mailbag questions. Jordan, get on in here.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Jordan was there.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I know. I know. But you know what? Then you also got your own airtime because I think there was quite a number of times we had to take pictures with you. She said, guys, guys, guys, it's about me.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Everything's about you. This segment's about you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
All right. What do you got?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah, I mean, the one that stands out is I don't remember if, and I have traded jerseys with guys who I didn't like or didn't like me. And because again, it is, as we're saying, it's the ultimate sign of respect. Like it's literally, forget anything else. That's like, okay, this person and I understand each other. And I remember... 2015, Diego Costa and I at Goodison Park.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Diego Costa was a brilliant striker for Chelsea at the time. And he was always mixing it up and we were getting pasted. And so I just thought, here, this was a perfect day. This was one of those stories where it was like the perfect day where I'm like, I suck so bad today that I really want to get sent off because I am so tired of being out here sucking.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And I think we lost 5-1 or something like that at home. It might've been opening weekend. And he had said something to Seamus Coleman, who was my right back and friend. So I got the grips with him and I gripped him up and I was begging for a fight, begging for it. And I couldn't be separated.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And after the game, they, like I said, whooped up on us and we hugged it out and hugged and kissed and walked off the field arm in arm. And it was like this, you just kind of understand that there's- Just part of the show, yeah. It's part of it, right? And you appreciate the competitiveness.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
You then have to carry the weight of, of a non-goalkeeper, right? Because goalkeepers had, US goalkeepers had a ton of success in Europe. You've got to be the one to go over and you have to start in the Champions League and you have to start in the Bundesliga. It's hard, man. It's hard. And he's young.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah. So, James, great question. We at Unfiltered Soccer promise, because we've already talked about it internally, to have a much larger discussion on promotion and relegation at a much higher level than just a short blurb because it's an awesome conversation. It's one that I can tell you for, so I don't, I don't think it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I don't think promotion relegation can work in America, and I'll give you loads of reasons why I think that as we go forward in these podcasts. A lot of it starts with the conversation about what Landon just spoke about in terms of valuation and losses and profits. So what I would say, and this is the fun part about it, I have had multiple conversations. I'm still on the side of no.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I'm excited for him because over the next couple of years, his growth and maturation, I think is going to skyrocket. And he now has an opportunity to go, no, this is mine. This isn't my dad's. This isn't any expectation. This is just me. And I'm figuring out, because by the way, he's figuring out how to play football.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I've had multiple promotion relegation conversations with people who I trust and who I respect and who I love. These are agents. These are head of leagues. These are owners. And I've staunchly argued my point against, and I've walked away from that conversation saying, And thought, I can see it happening. I can see it happening for the reasons I've been told.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
So it's a debate that, look, I would happily jump on board with anything that continues to grow the game of soccer in this country. So that's hands down. If that means yes or no, I'm on board. I just currently, for my own feelings, think that it won't work. And there's some valuable conversations around that that we'll have.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I'm like, that's all I do is work.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah, great question. Great answer, LDI. Look, for me, it's about individuals creating community around the game. And what is creating community around the game? Landon said, go to a game. Absolutely. There's so many levels of the game that you can support, whether that be the highest level or everywhere in between.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Go to bars, restaurants, watch games with friends, support local soccer teams in your community, play sports.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
um you know sign up for leagues anything that surrounds the game you know it's interesting now that i now that i don't kick a ball and i i can no longer play or don't want to play if i'm brutally honest i have so many opportunities in my everyday life to just create community around the game yes some of my jobs mean that but
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
the highest level he's figuring out how to be an adult i mean these are all we all dealt with this it's impossible and most people fail and i'm just so excited for him um you know that he's back playing i love that he got another opportunity to play again and he produced because that's what it's about ld it literally is about saying particularly as an american i've said this quite a lot about myself about christian when he was at um chelsea um about so many of my teammates
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
watch games, talk to coaches just offline, not not not official capacities, just connect people within the game. And I obviously have a platform to do that. But in general, in your local communities, I just think you just have to continue to create the community around soccer and people will get excited. And the great thing is you could be the steward for that cause, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And so you could get people in your office and say, let's go grab a beer. Everyone wants to go hang out and be around people they like and then introduce them to soccer, you know? And I think that's important. Just watch it on TV. Love that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Jordan, thank you. Thanks, Jordan.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Well, I think the House of Cards, part of it is when you look at the Philadelphia Eagles last year, that was a bit of the knock on them of why things imploded, right? And so maybe there's a carry-on effect to what you're saying. There's some truth in that. A couple things.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I know people are going to say, and of course it's not politically correct, nor should you say it, that I'm a soft soccer player and all we do is get fouled and roll around. That's fine. The fact of the matter is football is so overaggressive. I'm not talking about the tackling and the hitting. That's brilliant.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I feel like I never see a conversation on the sideline that's anything other than some guy being beat red in the face shouting. It's just such an over-aggressive thing. And by the way, if you ever watch me play, I like to shout. That's not my point. But it always surprises me.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
It's different when you're an American. You'll never convince me otherwise, which means every single day you've got to go out and train and perform like your life depended on because that's the only thing that's going to get you in a team. So I was super happy for him that he produced. And you know what? He was rewarded for it. So long may that continue because I think it's awesome.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Like in football, there's so much energy and emotion and adrenaline that that's all they do is just yell and scream for no apparent reason.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
It's just testosterone, dude. It is.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And so when I think about... But the funny part of that is I always think it's interesting like...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
on the on the outside we only see we only see it from one point of view right and um either maybe we're at the game but most of the time we see it on television from an angle and it's a replay the same angle of people arguing but i've been these you know you and i have been in these dress rooms together i've been in dress rooms where it's all kicked off and things have been said to
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
The head coach, and I always think the head coach, that's the top of the pyramid, right? That sanctity can never be broken. And I remember being in a dressing room where literally my best friend on the team, who, if I stood up to him, would literally just go, boom, and pummel me into the ground. That's how strong he was. And I remember there being an argument with...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
to your point, with him who was very much an alpha male for whatever that means in today's society. He was like, it was his way or the highway. This is my best friend. And there was a, the coach said something to him, didn't like, did something that he didn't like. So my friend stands up and I think, oh God. And everyone thought, oh God. This is after a loss.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
He was literally going to hit our head coach. And I remember getting up from my stool and beelining it for my best friend and thinking, he's going to have to smash me first, which he would have. But I'm not going to let him hit. Even if I agree with my best friend, he cannot... do anything to my head coach. You cannot hit him. He cannot do it because once that happens, everything's lost.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Um, thankfully I did not get beat up that day. Um, nor did our head coach, uh, at some point hours later, cooler heads prevail. But yeah, I, I, I agree. If you're the head coach, ultimately you have carte blanche to say and do whatever you want, whether people like it or not. So, um, we just have to be respected.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah, it's hard. What I would say is being a Giants fan, any dysfunction in Dallas or in Philadelphia, I appreciate. It makes me happy. So long may it continue. Sorry, Eagles fans probably won't be at an Eagles game.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah, thanks, everybody. It absolutely is not in my contract. I'm here for all of our listeners every week. Hit me up whenever you like, and we'll connect. Thank you to our presenting sponsor, VW. Have an amazing week. We'll see you in two weeks for another edition of Unfiltered Soccer.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Enjoy.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I mean, I think that what you said is so poignant. The fact that we expect two Americans to just be on the field for Juve and to perform is like, wow, we've come a long way. We've come a long way. And that's not a we thing. That's a massive credit to Weston. Yeah, that's a they thing. I mean, they are putting that work in every day. Also, what I love about them is they've got that pizzazz, man.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
They've got that arrogance that I just love in particularly attacking players. But Weston, for me, is special, man. He's got an engine like no other. He breaks things up. constantly. He's always on the go. You know, he gets the ball off of our center backs and our goalkeeper and our fullbacks. And then the next thing, you know, that's your expectation. And then he filters things. He creates tempo.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Next thing you know, he's getting on the end of a header at the back post, like constantly being dang gold dangerous. And I just thought, you know, we throw this, we throw this turnaround box to box midfielder. And I think it's lost its luster a little bit because of your double six and the pivot, your false nine. Like he's, he's really very much a box to box midfielder.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And yeah, I was super stoked for those guys.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah, at Dortmund, yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Look, money makes the world go round. I know nobody wants to hear that, but it's more money, it's more games, it's more eyes. TV rights are going up. There's an issue here. There's a log jam at the top and there's more games being added because there's more money involved. Now, what I would say is, You touched on it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
The biggest issue for me, because look, I think if my team's in the Club World Cup and I'm playing on one of the biggest teams in the world, I mean, in the moment, I'm probably excited to compete at that level. A trophy's on the line, so I can get myself excited for that. I think the difficult part, LD, is at the end of every season, right? In England, it was...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
It was the Premier League being finished no matter where you placed European places or winning the title or staving off relegation. Maybe you're in a cup final, an FA Cup. Maybe there's a Champions League final, but then you're done. And you're like, I'm going to go with a different group of guys. I'm going back with my national team. I'm going to refocus.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
It's hard to continue on that road even further with your club team because you need that break. But more importantly for the US, right? Because this is USLNT. There is no World Cup qualifying. very limited availability to get your best players in the trenches together when it matters.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Being on the road, playing back-to-back games, three games in the course of 10 days, getting into the next round, regrouping, trying to get advanced, get to a final. There's no opportunity for that. This is the opportunity. The Gold Cup is the opportunity. When this opportunity goes, and if potentially three of our best six players, Weston, Timwea, and Gio Reyna are missing from that,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
That for me is a problem. And forget me. I got a nice, amazing studio in New York. That's a problem for Mr. Pochettino. Huge problem. So I wonder if there's going to be any wiggle room. I wonder how much power and influence U.S. soccer can have. I hope U.S. soccer can have the influence and just say, look, We're going to flex our muscles here.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I don't know how you do that. At one point, you were trying to talk to me and your jaw was like starting to freeze and you couldn't speak, which is a real thing. I know, I was like, I'll let it, I'll let it. It was fun. You know what I loved?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And if we need to create some sort of dust-up with the clubs, so be it. Because I think in this matter, it's important that U.S. soccer and Mauricio Pochettino say, absolutely zero chance I'm playing without those three.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
My argument would be we agree on what the rights fee was for the Club World Cup. What I would say is I'm U.S. soccer, and I got just as much money involved in the 2026 World Cup as they do, and it matters more to me. And so U.S. soccer and Pochettino have to fight their corner as strongly as FIFA is going to fight theirs. No, they will.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
having a good World Cup.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, shout out to Anthony Robinson, former teammate of mine at Everton. Many people probably don't know that. Did you? Was he there? I forgot that. No. Yeah. He was on the fringes of the first team. When we were there, good kid, man. Really, really good kid. Someone who's easy to root for, but playing well.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I think maybe, maybe pre, pre one of our world cups, we did something in Times Square, but I'm also thinking like, I feel like you and I have had a decent amount of success in the game. And I'm like, I'm not sure I've ever stood in Times Square with like my name, with my name plastered on a moving billboard. You might have. No, I haven't. That was insane. That's cool. It was awesome.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah, as you said, just his ability to get up and down the flanks and continuously put in dangerous crosses. Again, two assists this weekend. It was... Yeah, you talk about oftentimes the special players coming from the spine of the team, right? Like in the heart of the midfield or goal scorers. But his...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
his ability to contribute on both ends for Fulham in the Premier League and for the US Men's National Team. I mean, can't say enough good things about Anthony Robinson and, you know, another player, you know, touch wood, but he seems to be not only consistent, but constantly available, constantly playing big, big minutes and big moments. So that's a big one for us.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
It's a really interesting point you make. Let me dive into that a little bit. So when you're playing a little bit, and I can attest to this when I was playing at Manchester United, I was a fringe player, right? So my only thought was like, how do I not screw up so that I can try me, that I can play next week, right? When I got to Everton and I was like, I'm putting in performances every week.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I'm going to play every week because I'm consistent. My thought became less about me and it became more about the fans and the performance and the internal struggles of a team. And how do I be part of the solution instead of the problem? And that only came through consistency of playing, ownership of the team, responsibility.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
When you play a lot, other players look around at you and they're like, all right, well, he's got to have the answers. What are the answers, Tim? What are the answers, Landon? And so when you start to play those big minutes and it starts becoming less about you because you're like, I've already figured me out. I know I'm going to be on the team sheet.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
He had a chance to put him in to play against his father. I have a lot of mixed views on this. I think you're passionate about it. I mean, I would have liked him to put him in, right? Now, this is professional soccer. You have a job to do. But if you're losing 2-0 and there's 30 seconds left, put the kid in. Like, if you have a sub, like, put the kid in. So, your thoughts?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
And then it'll go away. But those people are still dealing with it. And if you're going to rebuild your home, that's two, three, four years. Or if you're going to find a new place to live, this is a long process. So I hope people keep either donating or helping in any way because this is going to be a long, long rebuild.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
And this was happenstance. This wasn't like nobody had to manufacture. This was a draw out of a ball and like two balls.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
Yeah, let it happen. All right, so Everton. Lots going on. So Sean Dyche gets sacked. Our old manager more yours than mine. Much more yours than mine. David Moyes is back. Back at Everton. I am, it's like, I'm trying to separate him, the emotional, like thrilled for him and the club and myself and you and us from, okay, what does this actually look like? Is he going to help? Yes.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
How much is he going to help? And what's that going to look like? Is this a long-term thing? I know he signed a long contract, I think through 27. So is this like a, a more permanent thing? Is this a just get us through the season thing? But it seems like it's a more permanent thing. So I'm trying to decipher all that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
But most of all, just emotionally taking out the practical, I'm just thrilled for him. I'm thrilled to now go back there and see him and watch the club. I think it's going to be awesome. So give me, I mean, you know him a lot better than I do.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen. Volkswagen has long been a supporter of soccer in America and has proudly been a partner of U.S. Soccer for the past five years.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
Agreed, man.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
You're a moron. You're absolute. Dude, he absolutely deserves so much. And he probably didn't deserve to be fired, to be honest, with what he's done, with what he's had. Totally agree.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
I want to remind people, and we've said this before, I've said this before on this show. When I was there in 2010 and 2012, I always heard rumblings when Bill Kenwright, rest his soul, was there about fans would say, we just need more investment, more money. We're a top seven, eight, nine team, but we really want to become a Champions League team.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
And I always thought to myself, like, do you realize what you have here? This club to be this high every year is phenomenal. So what do you do? Bring in new ownership, more investment. And now for the last three, four, five years, you're fighting relegation every year. Just be careful what you wish for, as you just said, about how you want to play, what you want it to look like.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
Would you take a mid-table finish right now if you're an Everton fan? You're damn right you would. Absolutely you would. Correct. So just chill out. David Moyes knows how to win soccer games. He has shown that over and over and over, and I'm excited for him. The FA Cup, Tim, this weekend was fun to watch. There'll be... Some more matchups coming in the future. A few for people to pay attention to.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
Exeter City, who are League One, home to Nottingham Forest. That'll be an interesting one. Plymouth Argyle. This is so interesting. It's so funny how these things work out. Plymouth Argyle, who just sacked Wayne Rooney, who is an Evertonian, are now home to Liverpool. So imagine he had still been there. What a match that would have been.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
Plymouth are last in the championship, so that'll be really interesting to watch. Birmingham City, who are first now in League One, home to Newcastle, that should be. So there are a lot of other interesting ones, some Premier League matchups, but those will be really fun for people to watch if you like rooting for the underdogs. All right, we're going to take a quick break.
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Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
When we get back, we'll be talking U.S. men's national team on unfiltered soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen.
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Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
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January camp.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
It's one of the things, Tim, we love about sports. And we've seen it through my life. I've seen it after 9-11. The Yankees can't get goosebumps watching the Yankees play again. And there are moments where it helps people start to recover through sport. And let's hope tonight is that a little bit. But just a reminder, keep everybody at the forefront. And they have a lot of stress and anxiety.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Let me explain something to people who don't get this camp. This camp is crucial. For right now, let's start with Pochettino. Every day he gets with these guys, whether they're on the periphery or they're Walker Zimmerman or someone who's going to be in the World Cup or not, it doesn't matter. Every time you get a chance, when you only have 18 months now, to get in front of the team, it's crucial.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
But for the players, let me take people back. 2001, 24 years ago. January. I had made my debut three months earlier in October for the U.S. national team. So I get invited to this January camp by Bruce. In my mind, I'm thinking, this is my chance. And there's a lot of guys there now in Florida. I think they're in Florida. who are saying, this is my chance to make a World Cup.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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I had a good January camp there in 2001, scored a few goals. I think we won the Gold Cup that year. Started playing with the national team because of that. It led me into playing for the national team in 2002. Same thing. We go in in January and I'm like, okay, I got six months before the World Cup. I got to play well in MLS, but this is my 30 days to do it. So come in as fit as you can.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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You're flying ready to go. And I ended up making a World Cup team and the rest is history. For these guys, this is crucial. Absolutely crucial. And for people who are like, oh, it's stupid. They're playing Venezuela and Costa Rica and these games mean nothing. Bullshit, dude. This is a huge, huge opportunity.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And there will be one or two or three players, I promise you, in this camp that you weren't aware of that will make the World Cup team next year.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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That's right. And that's, you know, look, we talked about this last week. Pepe playing well right now. But who knows? I mean, we're 18 months away. We don't know what's going to happen. Brandon Vasquez just gets a move to Austin FC, so he's going to be playing all the time now. Flo Baligan, whenever he's back. But then it's like, okay, who's next? Sargent. Who's next?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And for Jesus Ferreira, now you get a move, a fresh start in Seattle. But you get a whole month to show the coach not only what you do in the hour and a half at training, what you're like in the meal room, what you're like in the locker room, what you're like behind the scenes, what you're like in the treatment room, how you treat people, how the group likes you or doesn't like you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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It's a huge opportunity. Huge opportunity.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
So if you can help, please help. Yeah. Um, reminder to follow us, social media, unfiltered soccer, subscribe to the show on YouTube. Make sure you follow an Apple podcast and Spotify. If you like what we're doing, please leave a review rate us. Um, it really helps other people find our podcast. You can also email us at feedback at unfiltered soccer.com. Okay.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Who?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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He only has three less than me before 25.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
Early days. You know what's best, though, Tim, about this move for him, honestly, and this is all due respect to FC Dallas. When you play in Seattle... There's like, there's real pressure, right? Like they're writing about you every day. The fans, if you're not doing the job there, he was a little comfortable. I'm sure he would admit in Dallas.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
And this happens with a lot of players when they come up and they start with one team. At some point, you've got to get away. Especially if you're a homegrown, you've got to go away. You've got to get out of there. It's not good for you. You're right. So I think this will be good from real pressure on him to produce. And I think this will help him a lot.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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So I think the future for him is bright and hopefully gets himself the opportunity now to play in a World Cup.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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So I'll tell you the worst though, Tim, about January, the worst man is, especially back, you know, decades ago is the fitness. And we had a fitness coach, Pierre, who was there and dude, every January camp, it was like, it was hell dude. It was like going to bootcamp.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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So you come in as fit as you can, but all I have met, I have nightmares about some of these fitness drills we did do just to get, cause you're just, you're, if you're there January 2nd or 3rd, you have a game. I think they play on the 18th. 18th. Yeah. You have two and a half weeks. People don't realize that is not a lot of time, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Generally, you have six weeks, five or six weeks in preseason.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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So you're ready for your first game.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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So now you have two weeks to try to play 70, 80, 90 minutes. It's brutal, dude. And so they're like, well, either we take our time and we build you in and be ready for February or no. Pochettino's like, no, man, we got to play well. We got to perform. You got two weeks. We're going to kill you for the first week. And you got, sadly, you got a lot of injuries and it's not the right way.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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to introduce yourself to a season, but it's just the reality. So hopefully, and I'm sure all these guys came in very fit. So they were ready for it. A few other MLS notes, your guy, my guy, Robin Frazier, you've been beating that drum. You must've been in somebody's here at Toronto, or at least they were listening to the pod. Really happy for him. He is the next head coach of Toronto FC.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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I think he's like, you, you know him better than I much better. I just that franchise needs stability. They've made a lot of bad decisions. They've made bad decisions with their GM in the past. The GM's made bad decisions with some of the hires who have gone there. John Herdman, obviously, with the Canadian drone scandal. And he just wasn't great there. So I hope this brings stability.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Um, never an easy transition from that, but let's move on. Um, Barca Madrid super cup on the weekend. Barcelona absolutely tore Madrid to shreds. I'm trying to figure out why Madrid aren't going to and consistently don't invest money in some defenders and strengthen that part of their roster. But Barcelona, I mean, watching Laminia Mall, is there a fee that they would even accept for this guy?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
And Robin Frazier, this is the first opportunity that he's going to have financial backing, a club that's ambitious. Remember, he's been at teams that just didn't spend money, were not ambitious. So I'm really excited for him. I think he's going to do a great job.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Yeah. The key is the time now, right? Cause he's been out of it for a little bit.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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as a head coach so he needs time and hopefully clubs are learning that you these things don't turn around in six months or a year or 18 months you need time and hopefully he gets it yeah totally uh one other piece of note a piece of news chicho arango who was at salt lake i follow salt lake closely because my former coach nate miller is the assistant there and with pablo has done a phenomenal job turning that team into just a really fun attractive team to watch
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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goes from Salt Lake to the earthquakes where Bruce is. So Bruce got on the horn. They traded for $1.4 million in GAM, general allocation money, which we'll get into that another time about what that means, and an international roster spot. So I think the biggest thing for Salt Lake there is getting rid of his salary. It was time. just watching that team a lot, it was time for him to move.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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He had a tough stretch through the middle of the season. I think sometimes these things happen to him and it's good for everyone. Absolutely. Absolutely. San Jose is getting a striker who will now have a fresh look on things. There's good leadership there with Christian Espinosa, who's there. They have a good front four, by the way, Pellegrini, Lopez, Hernan Lopez.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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now Chicho Arango and Christian Espinosa. So that's a pretty nasty front line.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Yeah, it'll be good. All right, one more break. When we come back, we will dive into questions. Lots of questions again this week in the new AT&T Fan Connection and talk about anything but soccer here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
I mean, you could say he's worth a billion dollars. He's 17, right? So like, I think he's 17. You could... Any Premier League club could justify, you're going to have this guy for the next decade. And he just keeps doing it. And he's won a Euros now. He's 17. It's insane.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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What's up, JR? How are you?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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All right. What do you got for us, JR? Talk to us. What do you got?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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All right, JB. Take it away, Landon. Well, we don't know how old your son is. This is very simple for me, and I'm going to dumb it down for people, and it's never what anyone wants to hear. The easiest way to continue loving soccer and getting better at soccer is by having fun and playing. And I'm going to break that down because you're like, what an idiot. Who says that?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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I now have kids who play soccer. And a lot of times they have three or four or five organized practices in a week. And it's great. They get to play a lot. But I watch my kids learn the most about soccer when we go in the backyard and we play or when they watch a game on TV. And they just love to do that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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So JB, my advice to you is one, make sure you're backing off a little bit, letting your son or daughter or whoever play, love it, have fun, have the ball around them all the time. You can learn a lot of other things later. You never get these years back where you're just touching the ball constantly.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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But if they're not having fun at some point, JB, they're going to look at you and say, you know what? I don't like this anymore. I want to do it. And then maybe your dream is crushed, JB, and maybe their dream is crushed. So you need to make sure they're always loving it, enjoying it. And your job as a parent is to foster that, but not be overbearing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Because I see it all the time now with the parents who are overbearing and eventually the kids fall out of love with the sport.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Well, not that level.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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That's a great question, Katie. Okay, so I'll start to tackle this delicately because I want to be really clear on this. My opinion is that the most qualified person, based on whoever's making that decision, is the person they should try to hire, no matter what they look like, where they come from, et cetera.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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That being said, having been in the women's game now, there for decades and decades have been a massive lack of opportunity for women to get better as coaches, GMs, technical directors on the business side, et cetera. So it's not as simple as just saying, well, just hire the most qualified person. Okay, we'll get Pep Guardiola.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Well, Pep's had a lot of opportunity that a lot of women haven't had, right? So in the end, whoever's making that decision needs to make the best decision for their team. I there are many men who coach in women's soccer who are great. There are many women who coach in women's soccer who are way better than than the men are who are coaching. And I've seen it up close and personal.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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So I think the key here is more opportunities to learn and grow. And now there's better licensing. And I see when I went through my licensing, more women in the licensing industry. Courses than I ever saw before. So more opportunities there and then given chances to either succeed or fail the way men are.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And that's, that's the only, I think that's the only way you can do it, but you can't blame people for making a decision that, that they think is best for them. The San Diego waves, a great example. They just hired a male coach who, who failed at Arsenal. So they brought him in and hired him. Now, a lot of the fans were probably like, well, why aren't we hiring a female? well. Okay.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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But that's their decision. Right. And there's, by the way, there's a woman who's running that ownership group. Right. So she made that decision. That's her prerogative. But I think we need more opportunities is, is, and that's not just women. That's any type of minority or anybody who's not, you know, what we're accustomed to seeing on a sideline. Right. In, in, in professional soccer.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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So I'm happy to see that. Another good rivalry on the weekend. Let's move to the FA Cup. Arsenal United. So... I sent you guys a text in our group chat, and I said, you know, is our arsenal, what's going on with them? And then I had to kind of check myself, Tim, because they're still in second place in the Premier League.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And you need to set people up for success, right? You don't just hire someone because... They played a few years in the league and now you want to make them a GM. Like you just said, okay, start as an assistant GM and learn and grow so that when they become a GM, now there's a lot of women in,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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women's game in nwsl in either coaching roles or gm roles who had no experience before so if you're going to do that fine but then you got to stick with them two years three years four years let them learn and grow and get make mistakes etc or start as an assistant let them learn and then give them an opportunity that way they're they're set up for success
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Thank you, JR. Appreciate you. All right, ABS. This week, Timmy, I had a conversation with one of my golf buddies the other day after we played on Friday. And we were sitting down. We were talking about NIL. And for people who don't know, NIL is name, image, and likeness, which has come into play. collegiate sports, mostly basketball and football.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And players now are given money by the universities or by wealthy donors to play for their universities. And we were talking about this quarterback, Carson Beck, who was at Georgia. They got knocked out of the college football playoffs. He's, you know, a prospective high draft pick at some point when he comes out and decides to go to the NFL.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And he said, it's looking like he's going to transfer to Miami. And I said, my first reaction was, why the hell would the starting quarterback at Georgia transfer to another school, to Miami? And he's like, well, he's going to get paid. I said, oh, of course he's going to transfer. So like all these guys now, you spend a year, one year, and you make a million dollars.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Why not transfer the next year? And why not transfer the next year? And why not transfer the next year? You're making millions. And what he said to me, this is why I want to get to. He said, well, you know, he'll go there and he'll make a million dollars. And I said, no, no, no.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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They lost to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup in the first leg, and then they lose against, let's just call it an average United team.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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From what I've heard, and I've got someone who's dialed into the college football game, is he's going to make three or four million dollars. And he said, get out of here. There's no way he's making three or four million dollars. I said, dude, he's making $3 or $4 million. So this report came out. Fox affiliate in Miami reported that it was a one-year deal for $4 million.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Now, The Athletic came out and said it might be closer to $3 million. Nobody's confirming or denying. But just to give people context, and then I want to dive into this. The starting quarterback for the Tennessee Titans this year, a guy named Will Levis, who was a second-round pick, made $950,000 last year.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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This, this season, Tennessee Titans starting court in the NFL, Carson Beck's going to go make three to $4 million in college. Go before I rant. Go.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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After being up a man for, what, 60, I mean, a long time. A long time. Right, a long time. And they couldn't find a way to win the game and then end up losing in penalties. So is there something going on there? Is this an anomaly? I know the XG said they should have won the game by four goals. Sure, sure. What's going on there?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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So, and here, here, here's the problem. Okay. So we agree. Of course the landscape has changed. The problem is whenever something new comes into effect, people are going to find ways to take advantage or cheat or move them. And right now, it is the absolute wild, wild west because there are no parameters, no boundaries. So in the NFL, you have a salary cap. Yeah. Right? So there are limits. Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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If Miami said, we're going to pay him $600 million because we have it, they can do it. Totally. It's like, who cares? Go do it then.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Right? And this cannot be good for collegiate sports. But like you said, college sports is over. It's over. I'm not necessarily, by the way, I'm not necessarily against these guys getting paid because… you know, CBS and ESPN and Fox and everyone is making billions of dollars selling the rights or purchasing the rights and then selling ads to these games. Get it?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And for those at colleges, I spoke to a woman at USC one time about this issue and she said, well, they're getting a scholarship. I said, okay, a scholarship's worth 50, 60, 70 grand. I get it. You're turning around and making millions, if not tens of million dollars on the back of this kid. So like,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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I get it and I get that they're subsidizing for some of the other sports, but the biggest, the biggest shame in all this, Tim, is somewhere down the line, all the other sports are going to get affected.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Women's sports are going to get affected. Sports, maybe even like soccer, but like, you know, the water polos and the track and field, they're going to get impacted somehow because there's only so much money to spend and they're going to spend it where the market tells them they should spend it, which is on football and basketball. And so I don't know what's going to happen long term.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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There's got to be a tipping point at some point where people say this is not sustainable.
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Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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I know the last thing here, what I can think of is, you know, when you watch NFL games and at the beginning of the game, as they're like introduced, you know, here come the, the Buccaneers defense and the guy comes out and he says, you know, Levante David, wherever he's from Ohio state in the future, it's going to be like Carson Beck, Utah Valley state, BYU, Georgia, Alabama, Miami, and Texas.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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You know, it's just going to be like, it's going to be such a joke. Cause they're going to be going to five or six schools. So All right, thank you to AT&T for our new fan connection. We will be back with this every week. We love it. Thanks to JR. Anything but soccer was great, and we will be back again with that too. We appreciate all of you for being with us today.
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See you next Tuesday, guys.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
No, out of the FA Cup.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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No, they don't. And along with relying on sock-on-set pieces, they've moved to, like, gritty, defensive, and… I don't like watching it as much. I'm trying to figure out if it's going to be as effective. Right? And at some point, you know Mikel Arteta much better than I do. I love him as a human.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
At some point, and we've been around coaches who there's a lot of like, I don't want to say just rah-rah because he obviously has more about him than that. But I was watching them during the penalty shootout and it was just, he was so animated and so part of it. And I was watching some of the faces and I was like,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
I don't know if they're starting to like, it's starting to sound a little old to them. You know, it just kind of felt that way. And so I wonder if there's a bit of that going on.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
You watch on TV, you talk to people, but what's happened in our town is we're just flooded with people from LA. So you see the devastation on TV and then you forget people actually have to go somewhere. They have nowhere to live, right? And so we're used to seeing wildfires in Southern California. But generally, Tim, it's a lot in canyons and big open areas.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
Yeah. Just for people who don't fully understand the FA Cup and what we love about the FA Cup. So it's a separate tournament from the Premier League. where every league and non-league team, right? It starts in the very early rounds with teams in the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth tier of English soccer.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
And they play a knockout tournament until they eventually get to the round where we're at now, which is the third round of the FA Cup proper. And at this point, this is where the Premier League teams come in. So you get these incredible matchups where you'll have a team that literally has guys on the field that are plumbers and dentists and playing against Premier League teams.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
And it's really cool. For other sports, it'd be like a AAA baseball team playing a knockout. or a single-egg baseball team playing a knockout game against the Yankees and maybe upsetting the Yankees somehow, some way. And you get a few of those every year, and so it makes it really, really fun. There was a few really interesting matchups. Tamworth, who were, I think they're non-league?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
Yeah, Tamworth's non-league.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
Non-league played a home match against Tottenham.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
played them to a draw over 90 minutes and had a chance right at the end to win the game, which would have been insane scenes had they scored. In the end, Tottenham won 3-0. They scored three goals in overtime as Tamworth just kind of fell apart a little bit, but it's the beauty of the FA Cup and You've, you played in a lot of those games. I played in a couple when I was at Everton.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
It's really fun, man. Like, can you just explain to people what it's like?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
They have to work- Yeah, they're not even, they're not pros.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
You are not used to seeing big structures just decimated. It's crazy to see. It's been pretty crazy. There are people we know as friends, whatever. There are famous people all over that people know. Carlos Valle, Ali Riley, two MLS and WSL people had their homes burned down. It's pretty crazy. And I think what people forget in times like this is that For a week or two, it's on everyone's mind.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
Who?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
Yeah, it is sad to see the replays done away for people just to give context. So if you drew the game, if you tied the game, then you would play at the other team's home ground. And then if it was tied, then you would go to penalties, I guess, or extra time penalties. But they had to do away with that. It's just too many games. But that was the magic of it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
But it was so fun to just sit on ESPN Plus all weekend and watch. The cool thing about this round is is that it's early enough for Premier League teams where they say, we're not necessarily going to start all our players, all our real players. We'll have them on the bench. Tottenham had Son and Kulishevsky on the bench.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
But it gives you a chance if you're a lower division team because you're not playing the top, top stars who are in great form and fit and all that. So as you get later in the fourth, fifth, sixth round or quarterfinals, all that, you get the real squads. But at this point, the teams are like, you know what?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
We'd rather lose in this round if we're Manchester United or if we're Tottenham than lose four rounds later and still not make the final and have all those extra games, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
You mean as the higher, as the better team? Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
Not having it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Arango and Ferreira on the Move, Moyes Returns to Everton, and Arsenal Out of FA Cup
Well, speaking of Everton, so a lot going on this week. So Everton played Peterborough at home. And the big takeaway from that game was 39-year-old Ashley Young. was hoping to play against his 18-year-old son, Tyler, who happens to play for Peterborough. At the end of the match, Darren Ferguson, the Peterborough manager, kept Tyler on the bench even though they were losing 2-0.
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NWSL, as you rightfully mentioned, has to get away from that stigma of like, I don't like it here, so I'm off. Teams are starting to build and move away from that, but it can still get better.
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He had a few match winners, and then he went to Tottenham. It just didn't work and very quickly was sacked. And so we hadn't really seen, like, what is, who is Nuno Espirito Santo? Very stern, kind of stone-faced. We're starting to see a smile and an exuberance about him. And his team is fantastic. He sets them up well. They've got, I mean, front to back,
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They have real staying power in terms of staying in the top four because they've got a fantastic goalkeeper, Matt Sells. They've got the most clean sheets in the league. Real good partnership in the back with Murillo and Milankovic as the two center backs. And then what he does is it's kind of that like – Portuguese way of like, we're going to create this base at the back, be really solid.
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And then there's going to be like four or five players. You go win us the game. Like just go win us the game. I need a massive engine from you. Gibbs White is brilliant in the middle of the field, a Lang on one side, Hudson-Odoi on the other. And this is the key. He wants them to break, break quickly.
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And the second they get their head up, put the ball in the box because if they put their ball in the box, Chris was getting on the end of it. He's having a fantastic career season. So yeah, Forrest has been really, really good this year.
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Yeah. It's a Testament to, to what, what a proper striker is get, get between the posts. That's where the goals are scored and put the ball in. Yeah. It's been fantastic.
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kind of challenging Van Dyke from behind. And Van Dyke's trying to hold him off and wants Allison, the goalkeeper, to come. It's one of those really slow balls where the defender should just clear it. And it was massive coming together. The ball falls and Smallbone swivels on it, scores, and it's Bedlam, right?
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But it's kind of like we've seen this enough in the world of football where you're like, Okay, that's all Liverpool needed because now I can tell you how this is going to go. And they ran out 3-1 winners and it was, in the end, pretty comfortable.
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And I get the sense that there's going to be a few teams toward the back of the season that are going to have to give Liverpool a guard of honour because I do think they're going to win it. pretty comfortably at this point.
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Yeah, 15 points clear. This is 500 and draw what they need from the remaining nine games. And obviously that doesn't take into account any more drop points from the likes of Arsenal. So
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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That's my thing about Vegas LD. Like I like to play craps because I can play craps to like four in the morning. And I like games that like, if I went to play blackjack, my night's over in like 20 minutes. Cause I, I'm just getting housed. So yeah, I, I'm not a gambler either. Um, on a slightly serious note, LD, I wanted to, um, say hello to our friend and a friend of the show, Tony Miola.
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Um, it seems to be a formality and, uh, and, and just for people listening, what in England, what a guard of honor is, um, if you win it on the last day and the last kick of the ball, you don't like get a guard of honor.
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But, you know, when I was at, uh, Manchester United, Chelsea, it was the Mourinho teams and Chelsea had won a league and they won it comfortably, which meant if they're met, if, if a team mathematically has already clinched the title, um, than any subsequent games that they play. Let's say they have three games left.
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Every time the teams walk out of the tunnel in the procession, um, the respectful thing to do is for, is for the opponent to form a guard of honor so that the, uh, team walks through. Yeah. It's just very, it's a very English thing. Um, a little bit demoralizing, you know, I'm going to go look at the fixture list and see who they're playing. Who has to do that?
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Crazy. That's cool.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
No, and they got played off the park against PSG. But for Allison, the goalkeeper who, again, world-class, kept them really, not even in the game, but in this tie, you go back to Anfield at 1-0. This is the crazy thing about Champions League and how you feel. They will have walked away from that game going, Oh, that's good. Really good result. Now we get him back at our place.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And Anfield under the lights is formidable. It's special. What I always say about Anfield is... And the cop, they recognize moments. And you and I have been a part of that rivalry. Because they've had so many big moments, big European moments, they recognize them. Like Anfield against PSG is going to be like, PSG is not going to want to walk out of that tunnel.
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It's going to be so daunting because they understand it's not like, oh, it's just another knockout. Yeah, we won this trophy before. No. They know that on that night, they can create an atmosphere that will live forever. throughout the test throughout time. So, um, yeah, it's a special, it's a special place and fill in the lights. And I think I have a feeling, um, Liverpool turn this result over.
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It just didn't. The crazy thing is, Landon, like, ever since I, you know, Premier League's gone through phases, and it was always about Manchester United, Liverpool, and then Arsenal under Wenger came through really heavy, and that Arsenal...
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arsenal man united rivalry became everything right you know late 90s early 2000s i i was actually a part of um some of those games the some of those big games and it was it was the premier fixture and like we did the build-up to the game this weekend it was just like united stink don't know how they're gonna play arsenal are very good but they're at the time, 16 points back of the title.
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Very, I spoke to him this morning, very recently. Um, he had a, he had a massive heart attack and it was, uh, scary for all involved. And I know, um, you know, he means so much to soccer in America and U S soccer fans, um, And they've wished him well. And he's just been amazing through this process. But he's strong. He just had a checkup.
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So that's gone. Just really, really, really interesting kind of where the two teams are.
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Both those teams, yeah. I mean, probably the biggest talking point was there's this massive A couple thousand people protest outside Old Trafford, protesting the Glazers once again. But I think about even the other side of ownership.
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When I look at Arsenal, they've said, we need to buy a striker in the last two windows, and they haven't done it for different reasons, whether that be price or whatever. And Isak is a name on everybody's lips, and he's going to cost some money. What I would say is, I'm really interested to see what Arsenal does this year because they have a window. You know this.
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As you build teams, you have a window. And they're a really good team. They have really great pieces. Ethan Wennery is coming through on the one side. He's a generational talent. They have so many great pieces. They need a striker. So I'm actually thinking... I don't really like to overpay, or I wouldn't be in a camp of saying, just go overpay for somebody.
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But if Isaac's going to cost the money that he's going to cost, he's nailed on to get you 20 goals in the Premier League. He could win you the title. And if the idea is to win the title, it's not really getting the Champions League anymore. They're going to do that, right? They've won domestic cups. It's to win the Premier League. I think they have to go buy a big top goal scorer.
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Yeah, just a quick note. I mean, look, Chelsea, I think, are... I actually am really happy with Chelsea. You have a first-year Premier League manager, right? What went on at Chelsea was like, let's buy all the best young players and now he's kind of streamlined the squad. And they've had a blip, absolutely. But you know what happened with that blip? They won this week and they went,
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into the top four. So I'm not really sure, like they're still ahead of schedule for me. Right. Cole Palmer had a brilliant start to the season. He's got no goal involvements in, in like six or seven games, but like that happens, you know, that happens. There's a bunch of injuries. So yeah, I'm good with Chelsea where they are.
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I think they're, you know, I think next year is a big, big year for him.
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Everyone's favorite time of the week, USLNT on USMNT, where we talk about the US men's national team. They're not in camp, so we'll talk about what they're doing in their domestic seasons. Most importantly, headlining this week is... Serginio Dest.
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Doctor gave him the all clear, just not too much running in the next month. So we, as a show, want to make sure we send our love to Tony Miola. And so glad you're doing well, bud.
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He's back, back, back.
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Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Yeah, yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Well, I mean, well played to his physio staff and himself. You know as well as I do, I was the world's worst. Like if I had an injury and the second I – and I wasn't injured a lot, thank God, and played through a lot. But if I sat down with my physio or the doctors or the surgeon and they're like, you're going to be out four weeks, in my head I was going –
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So two and a half weeks, I can be back for sure. It didn't even cross my mind. And when you're out so long, you feel like you're missing out on everything. You're missing out on a career. You're like, well, I have to get back. And as you said, the way that rehabilitation and physiotherapy is now implemented in
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um, in teams, you're going to more than likely if something gets repaired, you're going to come back stronger. Yeah. It's getting, it's like getting something new put in your body and then you rehab to become stronger and you see that, but you have to be able to take your time with it. And yeah, really happy for the men's national team, but also desk that, He took his time.
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Cause that's, I mean, you start to, as we start to break this down, LD, like the USS has got a really strong, solid back line all of a sudden, all of a sudden, but these guys, you know, if you think on the left side, Anthony Robinson, Chris Richards, left side, center back, Virginia desk, right back. And then who's it, who partners, Chris Richard, maybe CCV trustee. It looks really strong to me.
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Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Yeah, I mean, I just think the club's just not in a great way right now. No, they're not. I think when things are trending and ebbing low, players feel that. Supporters feel that. So, you know, I just love the fire and the vigor that he plays with. It always means something for him to score. You can see that by his reaction. So, yeah, obviously scoring a brace is a big moment.
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Can't give Tyler Adams enough credit for his attitude, his endeavor, the performances he puts in, the amount of emotion that he cares about every single game. Think about what that means. It's so difficult, by the way, to be a Premier League club player of the month. I mean, your consistency over the course of four or five performances is incredible.
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it's, we showed a watch party this weekend on NBC, uh, in his hometown upstate New York. They did a board at some bar. They did a Bournemouth supporters club, um, watch party. And it was crazy. Like, it's just, it's amazing that, that the, the amount of attention this kid is getting and all very warranted.
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Yeah.
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Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Well, no, NWSL has to – you make a good point. We've both been in USL at the ownership level, first and foremost. And, you know, USL, and I had always said it was a mercenary league, right? And it was a mercenary league because we were signing players in USL to one-on-one, right? So one-year contract, club option for the second year. And, of course, we looked after ourselves, right?
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So now this kid – we had it a bunch of times. Kid bangs in 15, 20 goals. And we're like, we're picking up his option because we ain't got to pay him a whole lot. And Indy or New Mexico or Oakland comes in and offers him double the salary. Well, you know what you have to do? Like a good businessman would tell me, Tim, you're an idiot. But I'm like, you got to go. Or you got to pay him.
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Or you got to pay him. Right? And so it becomes a mercenary league. So players are changing. And NWSL, as you rightfully mentioned, has to get away from, and I think they are, get away from that stigma of like, I don't like it here, so I'm off. Right. Like teams are teams are starting to build and move away from that. But right. It can still get better. No doubt.
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LD, what's happening, bud? We're back.
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Yeah, I mean, watch that space. I think the people over at Bay are some really good people, certainly the ownership group. And you hope for everybody involved that this gets cleared and there is no issues. But it's something that has to be taken seriously. So we will. We'll watch that space and we'll continue to kind of stay across it as things develop.
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Right.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Mark, the new sporting director that recently named Mark Parsons, I quite like him. I think I think he'll come in and settle some things down. And to your point, create that pathway in that direction. They don't need to rebrand or re-identify themselves, but just kind of settle things down and streamline it. I asked you the question, did they get out over their skis a little bit?
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Because there was so much hype. There were so many celebrity investors. They had everything that you dream about having in terms of starting a club. And I just wonder, because I've seen this. I've seen this with ownership groups that I've been a part of. I've seen this in general from the outside. When you buy a club, start a club, invest in a club, it is like you're so excited.
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You wear the scarf and you take the pic. It's amazing. And then you got to get down to the nitty gritty in the day to day. And that's mundane and it's tiresome and it's not fun. Well, the losing is not fun.
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For sure. And obviously bringing in Fabrice was, was, The second hiring, I'm hiring Angela Mangano. I think she's special. I don't say that often, but I've had a chance to really sit down with Angela, see her process. We've given her a lot of autonomy in terms of like, you know what you're doing. You've been around. You understand what it's going to take to kind of reshape
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I like the love. It's good. No problem. It's good balance.
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things for this club and she has hit the ground running. And for briefs was a fantastic hire. Also some of the, you know, some of the deals caught a lot of eyes that we've, that, that she made in the off season. You know, Yasmeen Ryan was a big one, a big one, good player, by the way, good player, big money, good player, opened a lot of eyes.
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And you know, one of the things that she knows and look, we finished bottom of the league. So it's very easy to say, you know what? Hmm. the only one way to go is up, but it's not just about results. Results are the most important, right?
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But like building a culture and a foundation, I hate using the word culture because everyone just throws a blanket over it, but creating what you're talking about, real sustainability, like a real core that every day you just said it, you know, she has an ability and a workflow that is,
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second to none so yeah really excited about about that and i think the other thing she did was the the we needed a roster overhaul she knew that we had to get younger more dynamic and she brought in players and she she targeted players who had lifted a trophy and when you look at the players we brought in they they'd either won the shield or the or the nwc uh cup like
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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These were, this wasn't by accident, right? And you talk about how do you change culture that everyone wants to talk about. You bring in people who understand and who are going to question and make sure things are done the right way. So yeah, you know, looking good, high hopes, but got to get it done on the grass. So excited.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Yeah. Congratulations to them as a couple, but that's to them. I will say, I mean, I watched Portland last year and it's so hard for me to put my finger on Like what I think about Sophia Smith, the way that she moves across the grass, her ideas, her vision, like you can see this. I mean, to say that she's special would be, would be probably doing her a disservice.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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I mean, she is an incredible striker, like just watching her movements in and around goal. I mean, she is incredible. yeah, just incredible. She's really fun to watch. So hopefully everything is incredible, great with their family. And then she gets back and we can see the best of her.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Really good. I love how much you pay attention to that West Coast corridor. It's like Seattle, LA, San Diego.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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You knew it was coming.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
You're not having this. I can already tell.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Seattle looked great. I was surprised. LAFC had been really good defensively. And I watched it and I just thought something's... I hope it's not a theme. I think it is a theme through the season. there's some bad defending in MLS, like really bad defending. And you, and you were one of the greatest attackers in the league in the history. But like, there's just sometimes we're like defenders.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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You're in the more the merrier camp. Look, from a competitive standpoint, and they'll obviously work out the logistics, what I would say is when you get to a World Cup and you get to 32 teams, just based on how qualification works around the rest of the world, I don't always think the best teams are in the World Cup, by the way. right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Like, like if you look at Europe and how many slots they get, right. Sometimes the couple of best teams in the world aren't there. Well, South America too, right? There's teams in South America, same. Asia, the same. So if you expand the field, you then, I think, get the best of Europe, the best of Asia, the best of South America, the best of Africa. Certain teams don't miss out.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Now, one might say you have to... Too bad if you miss out, you didn't reach the proper qualification. But what I would say is there are... There are always some teams that I'm like, I wish they were in the World Cup. And I think if you expand, then you get the best of the best.
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You're a very smart man.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
That I agree with. No, that I agree with. They're not.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Where have you been?
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It's time for the Fan Connection presented by AT&T. Every week, we invite you, the listener, to connect with us by submitting your questions. The best way to grow the game of soccer in the U.S. is to keep asking questions and keep talking about the sport we all love. At AT&T, connecting changes everything. And on USLNT, our connections with you will help grow the game. It's that time of the week.
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We love our AT&T Fan Connection. Thank you, AT&T. And thank you To our fans, you guys are always bringing the heat, bringing the love. Jordan, welcome in this week. How are you? Good morning. What shirt is that? What kit do you have on today?
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Amazing. With the what? He has no idea. Landon does.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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I'm thinking I'm certain on your paycheck somewhere. It says I am paid to defend and, and they just don't do it. But okay. I'm digressing. Seattle was very good. I love, I love the atmosphere in Seattle. Like the game kicked off and I was just like, I remember playing there with, with, um, just come back from Europe and I was playing there with Colorado.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Bohemians do great, great clubs.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Yeah, that's not your usual house. Cool jersey.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
We're offline about it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
You going to bring some thunder to us today? What's going on?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
No, it's in the similar neck of the woods. Bro, is it Chris? Buffalo Bills Mafia spends zero time in warming areas.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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They don't have a warming area. They go, oh, it's 14 degrees. I'm going to bring a hat and gloves, and they pile into that stadium. I'm not having it. I know it's cold. I spent my life, sleep, rain, gale force winds, getting out there. Just show up. Honestly, just show up. It's your team. There's nothing. There's no supporters.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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He showed up. Yeah, so fair play. But none of his mates did because there was nobody there. Well, maybe they were in the warming section, but I was watching television. I know what I saw. You just turn up.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And I remember saying to like a couple of young guys in the dressing room, like, if you never, if you never get to the world stage, this is as good as it gets. Like this, this place is awesome. And they were great. I thought they were really, really good. Um, big credit to Jordan Morris. He's a former teammate of ours. Um, 87th goal for the club becomes Seattle's all-time leading goal scorer.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Well, very well said. I mean, look, David, it's David, right? I mean, here's the thing. We do our research more than you can even imagine. The fact of the matter is, if you're fighting this stance that there's 30,000 people there, fine, fine. It looks horrific on television. There's no denying that. In stadium, because I've played there, it's not a great place to play.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
So maybe we're having a bigger conversation as Landon touched on. The stadium, how you shoot the stadium, how you kind of either tarp the upper bowl and push everyone to the lower bowl. It's been done before, right, Landon? Also, you've spent a lot of money. If you've ever heard of Everton Football Club, in the last decade, they have also spent a lot of money. It means nothing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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It's how you spend it. So hats off to you guys for loving your club and repping. So keep it coming. We like to smoke.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Let's do it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
I mean, I bet he enjoys winning.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Well, yeah, I think by the nature of the dynamic of global football, European football, yeah, the fans have a much... greater say, but it's hard for me to say they're more passionate, but they do, they, they do thing like, uh, I lived in, you know, born and raised in New Jersey, the jets, New York jets haven't been good for a very long time.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And I don't really know that they fly planes and banners over the stadium. I don't know if they, uh, burn things outside of the stadium, whether on that, we're not condoning that or have sit-ins. And this is what European football clubs do. These fans, they, they have a voice and a say, and it's loud and it's proud and it's passionate.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
So, um, that naturally is going to influence people's decisions. Is it too much? Yeah, probably, probably. But we, and we see, we see the bad of that Jordan, um, oftentimes, um, With people wanting the manager out and saying and doing all the wrong things, we see the good of it. Remember the Super League? The teams wanted to break away. You know what stopped the Super League? Fans.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Fans said, over my dead body, will this ever happen? And they literally protest in droves. And they single-handedly, the fan, single-handedly stops something from happening in world football. So there's a lot of influence.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Couldn't happen to a better guy, better player. I'm buzzing for him. Number one, he's got that. But then I think he's also in touching distance of 100 goals, right? So you hope over the next two seasons, he's able to kind of eclipse that mark, which would be huge for him.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Well, I mean, look, bring this back to the beginning. West Ham, and I witnessed this because I cover the Premier League every week, and David Moyes, who's a mentor and a friend of ours, I had a vested interest. All you kept, and we've said this before, all you kept hearing from West Ham is, we want to play the West Ham way.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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The West Ham way ain't been played since 1966, but David Moyes came in and won football games. So let's get him out. Let's get Lopetegui in, right? that we get Lopetegui in or someone who's going to play the West Ham way, that lasted like four months. You couldn't win a football game.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
So, you know, sometimes like Landon said about Arteta, like just pump the brakes a little bit, a little bit, right? And it's good to have some power and some passion, but not always.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Yeah, it's true.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Totally. LD, let me give you another one. Nuno Espirito Santo. Sacked. Sacked from Tottenham. Wasn't good enough. Wow. Guess what? He is actually good enough.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Same. Same. I mean, you know, what I would say is that that is I've heard that that tossed around. Love the idea of it. Yeah. as you said, it's still a building that needs work. It needs revenue. It would need some investors because ultimately there are going to be people who want to come in and maybe a car park is more lucrative or maybe a high-rise apartment is more lucrative.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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We saw that with Highbury and Arsenal, right? I think they're apartments now, which is crazy to think about, but that's the world of business. So would Landon and I like to see it stay and be the home to Everton women and possibly some of the younger teams. Absolutely. That'd be amazing. Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Yeah. I mean, look, the other thing about it is like, we love Goodison. I mean, you're not going to get two people who love it more. We absolutely adore it, but the game does move on. Goodison is always going to have a place, um, in Liverpool, in people's hearts and homes, that'll never be taken away. But sometimes it is okay to move on, you know? So there's that side of it too.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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But yeah, obviously the big women's derbies, you know, you want them in big stadiums because they've shown that they can sell them out. You know, certainly you look at Arsenal. So why, yeah, absolutely. Why not put them in the biggest stadiums possible to give them the atmosphere they deserve?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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I mean, that's a really good point, LD. You think about where we are in American soccer and at the NWSL and specific stadiums just to the women's league. England can do that. Because, by the way, they've got pub teams who have their own stadiums. Serious, serious. There should be some investment.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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I think Mimi is completely accurate. It's a hundred percent true. And scientifically proven as well. Yeah. I mean, I think the fact so many teams are doing that now, aren't they? The fashion side of, I think the NBA started. And I think there's so many teams around Europe who have, Continue that trend.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Certainly some in MLS where you have that like catwalk runway entrance to the, you know, get your wash bag and.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Maybe. It's a bit wild, but yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Is it a friend of yours?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Appreciate you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
I got no issue on either side. Look, here's the thing, LD. LeBron James came into the league as the most highly touted basketball player in the history of basketball, right? As a high schooler. And he's taking every criticism on the chin and become successful. He knows what that landscape looks and feels like. He knows that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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He selfishly, and by the way, selfishly, I do mean in a good way, deserved to push Bronny through to get the golden moment where he gets to play with his son. That happens once every freaking 10 generations. I got no issue with that. What I do have an issue with is when you push him through, right? And Rich Paul allegedly goes basically to every team and says, don't draft him.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Question for you. How many goals did you score in the MLS?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
If you draft him, I will send him to Australia to play, right? so that the Lakers pick him, and he's not good enough to play in the NBA. Show me right now, right? But he gets fast-tracked onto the NBA court because of his dad. No other player, by the way, in the history of basketball gets that luxury. If you're at the level of Bronny James, you do not get to step on an NBA court.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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So he got to step on an NBA court because of his father. I got no issue with that. That would be amazing to play with your son. But don't then ask Stephen A. Smith, whose job it is, by the way, the best in the world at it. His job is to critique and analyze opinions on it and have opinions on it. And yeah. And by the way, you've seen his salary. He's earned that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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He's earned the fact that he's going to have the hottest take on what is on everybody's mind. So do I have a problem with LeBron James being a father and saying, hey, cut the crap about my son? Sure. But I have no problem with what Stephen A. Smith has said and done.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Is that all-time leading? Is that?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
How many does Wando have?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
I get it. Bottom line is LeBron James and Stephen A. Smith both are well aware of where the cameras are at all times.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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I'm getting no love in Boston with my Yankee hat. That's for sure. So we got to be careful up there. Look, thank you so much, everybody. And thank you to our presenting sponsor, VW, and our fan connection sponsor, AT&T. Have an amazing week. Miss you all. We'll be back next Tuesday with another edition of Unfocused Soccer.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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He'll get 100, man. That's awesome. Yeah, he'll get 100.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
LD is the leader on 144 goals. Wow. I'm not the leader. I'm not the leader.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
We can say what we want on this podcast.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Sorry.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
No, no, not particularly.
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Yeah. I mean, I'm sure there's going to be lots of, of that. I couldn't imagine there was a scenario where he was going to play, but it's just, it's a rest. It's a rest thing. Look at what I would say for, you know, we, we are, we are at the end of this thing, right? Like, like how many more times is messy going to lace up his boots and cross the white line?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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You're, you're looking at less than 18 months. That's, I have no inside information on that, but I'm just looking at it from the vantage point of like the world cup and his contract and all that. Like, They're trying, and I have a feeling, LD, this might be a weekly segment. Miami won a Supporter Shield last year. They got knocked out in the first round. Messy missed 14 games, all competitions.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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They are going to try and win the MLS Cup. Simply put. I don't even know if they care about the Supporter Shield this year. You know, they've done that, boxed it away. They're going to try and keep pace, perform well. and keep Messi as healthy as humanly possible to play the best possible minutes from September to November. They are. They are.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And I know that's hard for people to think about and balance. And yes, there's a responsibility to the league and to the fans. But I would imagine David Beckham is thinking if number one goal is to lift that cup.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Yeah, quick segue. We lied. We don't often lie, but when we do, we make sure we tell you. Landon Donovan is not the leader, all-time leading goal scorer.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
So number one all time, Chris Wondolowski, the greediest striker, most amazing striker. Love Wondo. You love that guy. 171 goals. Kai Kamara, who I'm really impressed with. I mean, he's had some staying power. 147 goals. And our own Landon Donovan.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Yeah. Incredible.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
I'll give you that. Yeah, I'll give you that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Mm-hmm.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
How many days is, like, what's the sweet spot for you in Vegas? I know you're close. Now it's one.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
I mean, what they just need to be careful of is, you know, I know it's three games in, so they almost kind of need a reset. And what they need to be careful of is, like, getting too far off the pace, right? Like, it's okay to not be great. And we understand the subtractions that they've had and not a ton of additions. But still... I don't know. I was going to say this.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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There's an onus on the players to kind of, you know, these are champions. Like, yes, there's one or two missing, but like, this is a championship level squad. And so I feel as if, They need to be giving more. I'm not questioning their effort, but there's, you know, there's a, there's that like championship hangover. You've, you've probably had that more than, more than most, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
What's your, what's your, what's your go-to game? What do you, what do you like?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Where you're just exhaling and like, this has been, it is, it is so much easier and it's not easy, but it's so much easier to chase a title than to actually be chased. And now, now, now everybody's hunting for them. And that's so much harder, you know, from a psychological standpoint.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
No, I'm not a poker.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Yeah, it is. We're not touching on Philly, but you mentioned Philly. Jesus, he has six goals. He's on fire. And by the way, Philly are incredible at the moment. They've got some pieces.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
People have got some receipts, bro.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Amazing. They are incredible, by the way.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
You were throwing all your chips into the middle of the table. It's fine. I was working. Probably the best game of the weekend, actually, was Forest-Manchester City. Yeah. One nil for us at home. I personally have never been to the city ground, which is an incredible, incredible stadium with, like, rich in history.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Right.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
I mean, you know, in the 70s, Forest War, I know people think that was a million years ago, but Forest War, a European force. I mean, they were incredible. And my goalkeeper coach, Chris Woods, who you know from Everton, he was the goalkeeper behind Peter Sheldon all those years. So, I mean, I've heard stories about those amazing Nottingham Forest teams.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
At any rate, it's an incredible place to play. It's one of those old school, you know, you talk about Goodison, Everton leaving Goodison for a new home, but this is one of those old school proper football grounds. And they're really home, real home field advantage, and they play on that. And Look, I think, you know, is Nuno Espirito Santo the frontrunner for manager of the season? He has to be.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Galaxy's 4th Straight Loss, Forest Upset City, Sergino Dest is Back, and the 2025 NWSL Preview
Oh, he has to be. He has to be. Him and Slott, of course, at Liverpool. But the way that he – what it is is we haven't seen this from Nuno, which makes it even more special. At Wolves – again, Wolves are probably where they are. They're about to the bottom of the table. They had a few good seasons, certainly under Nuno, but it was a more pragmatic style.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
What I all often think about when I watch the women, how exciting they are. One, they're the best in the world. They constantly have one to two women in the conversation of world's best player every single year.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
You're putting a guy, and your Galaxy teams did this a lot, really good teams, and now you're inserting a world-class star. That's different, and I like it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
They look good. What I would say is, and for all of our listeners who've never had... the opportunity to cross the white line is when you're a footballer and I take on board what you're saying, like they've had a, it's been favorable for them early on, but I think that's great because you know, as well as I do, when you're not winning football games, you just think you stink, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Which isn't fair to you. And when you're winning football games, you think bring on Brazil. Like we got this. You think you're better than you are, but that's a healthy thing. Right. And so now whether the schedule has been favorable for them or not, they think to themselves, we've only lost one game, one four. Like this is a brilliant start to the season and we're a really good team.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
And so that's only going to give them confidence and confidence in football is everything. I mean, what's it been like? I was watching the game. What's it been like? In San Diego. Is there like a real vibe? Their supporters section looks great.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Yeah. Yeah, he's on it. So I watched him, and I just think feet are tidy. He sees a pass. We know he's tough as nails, right? So this is all praise. Love him. I do. I love him. I love what he brings. I mean, take him on your team all day long. My first question to you would be, where do you play him for the national team?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
And my second question, and this is real, and I hope, by the way, he gets an opportunity to answer it, but it's a real question for me. I often say, and you'll hear me often say, you can be really, really good. You can be a really great Premier League player and not be quite up to par for the England national team.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
You can be a really good MLS player, like top of the picks, and not be international level. That's a real thing, even though as fans we say, look, he's doing brilliantly. Call him in the national team. So I just wonder, when the fur starts to fly... in a World Cup and you're talking, we're playing Italy or like, is he out of his depth at that moment or can he compete?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Yeah, he's got a spot.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Yeah, I mean, this is so important. Our whole show is about engagement. And you all have been incredible keeping us honest, agreeing, disagreeing, being critical, praising. All these engagements are amazing. So keep it up.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Interesting about that game is, well, I spoke to Robin Frazier this morning and he just said, look, things are starting to come together, which, you know, it wasn't a good start. So it looked that way. Like that kind of checks out. The other thing, you're going to love this. I'm watching, I'm watching the inter game. Into Miami, Toronto game.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
And Messi did like one or two things that I audibly laughed. Like I chuckled. If it was a save, I'm not sure who was watching saw it. He's on the end line and he sold this guy a lollipop, right? And then he goes by him and smashed it. Sean Johnson saves off his chest. But I rewound it and I was like, this guy like spun around and like... You got the line there. Keep the line there. That's right.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
And it's easy for me to say defense. But I was on my couch and I laughed. I chuckled. And I was like, that's so funny.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
It's great, but it's like he's still doing things that are making me laugh that I'm like, good for you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
I could get a bunch from DC. You could? Go ahead. Yeah. No, let's do this first, and then I'll do the best of the 11.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Who's that?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Yeah. You know, the interesting thing is you make a great point. You really do. And I think the... I go back to Southampton and hiring Russell Martin and then Ivan Juric and the mess that gets created. It's so interesting because... You always hear me say, there's no other way to win a football match. It doesn't have to be super ultra progressive. And you just need winners to win.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Hire a manager, give him autonomy of the squad and let them go. And that's what San Jose is doing with Bruce. And like, duh. So I oftentimes think when it comes to these sports franchises who just kind of like are... They just wallow away in the muck and the bottom. It shouldn't be that hard. It's okay to have a couple, like three down years, totally. Like that's, you're just human.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
But it shouldn't be that hard to like figure it out. Get yourself out of it. Like you shouldn't be in this run for this long. It's just, it's not.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Using your phone while driving could kill someone. Put the phone away or pay. Paid for by NHTSA.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
No. So Liverpool scored first. Alexis McAllister bombed. That's right. Crushed it. And then, yeah, then it was 3-1 by halftime.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
They were poor defensively. It was really interesting because I think both the pre-match interviews of Slott and Van Dijk were like, it's a really tough game. And obviously, Marco Silva has fallen playing well. And we laughed and joked on air because off air, I said like, Fulham's one of the best places to play in the Premier League because it's a day out.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
It really is. Hats off, hats off to her for having the foresight. The, the investment couldn't praise her enough for what she's done and what she's doing. Um, You know, it's going to, it's going to drive women's soccer in this country to levels that are, were once probably thought untouchable.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
What I would say is, and I, and I think this is an important point when you talked about all of the list of things that, that, you know, are going to go into that investment. One of the trickier pieces for me is yes, they're going to be more young women identified. Right. But with the current model,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
the ones who are getting identified are still the ones who are basically paying to play the game, right? So we still have an issue with the sport not being accessible to all young boys and girls. And so I think hopefully with the soccer forward component of U.S. soccer, that they will use some of this investment to subsidize the sport for youth that haven't otherwise had an entry point.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
It's fun to see her back. And to our listeners, let's get her on a show. We're going to reach out to her. You all get into her inbox and tell her she's got to come on.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
I want to pick her brain. She is awesome. And it's interesting. I was talking to a friend of mine who's a women's college coach at a very, very high level. And he said to me, it's almost been taboo to have a nasty, hungry dog up front. It's become, how do we get these kids to play tippy-tappy between lines, false nine, right? And his point to me was, why are we not, why are we not
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
accentuating the forwards and the strikers who can just run and be tough and be nasty, right? Because we've gotten away from that in this country. And to the bigger point, it's like, careful what you wish for, because that's what we always were, right? And now it's a bit like, well, we want to see the nice football. Well, sometimes we can do all the buildup, and that's what we do in this country.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
They don't give you any stick. And then Rebecca pushed me on it on air. And I was like, yeah, it's fun. They don't give you stick. The whole back stand is the away stand. It's a nice day out. And Liverpool's like, oh, it's tough. And I think, I don't know, they got in their own heads. Kind of took their foot off the gas a little bit, but like two or three bad defensive mistakes.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
It's great. We've figured out how to do all the buildup and the pieces, but you need someone at the top end. And that's what Trenton Robbins is doing. It's awesome to see. I mean, um, you know, long may it continue. There's another game coming up here shortly. So, uh, looking forward to seeing what they can do.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Big, big, big shout out to Avery Patterson. She's awesome. Super psyched for her. It's funny because many of you don't know this about me, but like, If my coach would have asked me that, I'd have been like, have fun. I was shit scared every time I went on the field. It was just a bad, I had to go to a really dark place and I would not have said to my manager, have fun. I don't know.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
That's great, Avery. Amazing. Well done.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
2025, FIFA World Cup. FIFA Club World Cup.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Thank you. Thank you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
So they paid the price.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
LD, my guy. What's really good? How was your weekend? Is that a pullover? It's a cardigan. It's a cardigan. Thanks for asking.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Thank you. Thank you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
And they're good. And they're good.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Thank you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Thank you. Thank you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Yeah, the problem with the title race is where Arsenal have messed up this year is they just need to keep pace. Right now, so they lost. They drew, yeah. They drew to Everton, but Liverpool lost. They needed to beat Everton, right? And then at some point, I don't know which date it is, they go head-to-head with Liverpool.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
If you can go ahead and then beat them, then it starts to get a little bit touchy, not to mention all the points that Arsenal have dropped. And it's just like they needed to keep a tighter pace because what you just said, you have to anticipate – that the leaders are going to drop points somewhere. Now, look, if the Arsenal of 2003 and the Invincibles go all the way, you hold your hand up.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
probably don't win or they play such a low competition that they win and it's not really even that fun. So I don't know. I just think there there's, there's an excitement about the women currently, or certainly for a while now that, that are, that get people excited and put butts in seats and then the proof's in the pudding. So I, I like it. I love it. I mean, hats off to them.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Hopefully they'll have another really good showing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Yeah, it's a great question. There's layers to it. So again, depending where you are, right? Like if you're Fulham, you never went in the Premier League. Well, not anytime soon. Could you win a cup? Could you win a league cup or an FA cup? Absolutely, you could.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
So it's not really a priority because you're probably not going to win a Champions League or even be in the Champions League for so many of the Premier League teams. You're probably not going to win the league. So like domestic competitions start to have higher priority. If we're talking about, and I think the question is probably angled at the winners, the champions, the top teams, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
So we're going to talk about Liverpool, Man City, whomever. Always, always, always and forever, the Premier League title is the Holy Grail. Okay?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
More than Champions League. And I'll give you an example. In the city of Liverpool, they win European, they've won, they've been super successful in European competitions. You know, also mainly Champions League. When Sir Alex Ferguson took the mighty Manchester United and overtook Liverpool for league titles, the only thing that Liverpool fans wanted was a league title.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
That's all they wanted, right? They wanted Champions League in there and they loved it and they celebrated it and they thought this is really freaking good. But what they really wanted was the Premier League. So always and forever league title trumps that. Again, if you're Manchester City, as an example.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Yeah. So that's where I was going next, right? So City decide, Premier League, that ain't really hard to win. We'll just win that every year. That then became, they're chasing this Champions League that they can't seem to fricking win. So that was, but Landon, that example is, there's only like one team, you know,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Maybe Bayern is that way. Maybe Barcelona, Real Madrid are that way. PSG. PSG. But everybody else, the rest of the other 99%, would want a league title. But yeah, really good question.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
If the man cities of the world that win 14 on the bounce leading into the championship Sunday, you hold your hands up. But most teams aren't that. They're going to falter at some point. We've seen Liverpool do it. Knocked out of the Champions League, lost the League Cup final, dropping points in the Premier League. It's there, but Arsenal aren't close enough.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
The stakes, when you have promotion relegation, the stakes become so much higher. That's a great point. If you're a major league baseball team, and I can name 15 of them, but I won't, there's some throwaway seasons. Now, they'll tell you there's not, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
But you can hire, the guy who was a third base coach, who's like, he's hot, he's ready to roll, he's ready for his time in the managerial dugout, They promote the third base coach to the manager. But by the way, they might be 70 games out by the All-Star break. So then they go, well, we'll give this guy an opportunity to see how he manages players.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
And so you see more of that in the Premier League and in most of the European leagues. Promotion relegation, the threat of that is so high that you couldn't possibly give the job to a guy you don't know what he's capable of. Like Landon said, I don't know if this guy can manage personalities. Because by the way, everybody loves you when you're an assistant coach. You're their best friend.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
You're not managing anything. Right. It becomes much harder when you're the head coach. And so I think the threat of of relegation is something that teams owners aren't even aren't even prepared to. You have to get a hopefully a tried and tested manager through the door.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Wow. Yeah. Chris, dude, bro, man, whatever you said. I get it. But I think you got to be careful when you speak to me about being biased. Because I'm on television every week, every weekend. And if you look at my comments about Liverpool... in about Everton over the last five years, I think you'll see how wrong you are.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Yeah, I always have receipts. So, Chris, you got to keep up.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
So, yeah, look, if you think I got it wrong and the referee and VAR got it wrong and Yeah, that's fine. I've said what I said about the red card. And I thought I, you obviously listened to the pod, which we love. So we appreciate that. I riffed on it and I went in depth about examples of a similar tackle and what I thought about it. This has nothing to do with being a blue or a red. That's absurd.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
So yeah, then we put that to bed. I said what I thought about it. Again, it's one of those plays, which again, we see, Not every weekend, but really often where everybody is torn. The internet's torn. The referee VAR is torn. Former officials and former players are torn. And on another given day, a call can go the other way. So that's not like outrageously egregious what I said.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Neither. I don't understand either of them. Because when you have a really strong Glaswegian accent, the name Tim sounds like Tom because I say, I thought Fergie was calling me Tom for a long time.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Which he might not have known my name. No, David Moyes, because I was such a young pup at Manchester United and I was brought in in such a big team. And, you know, from day... So, was Sir Alex Ferguson scary? He's scary as hell. I've got amazing stories about what scared me about him. But... Ultimately, when David Moyes, I wasn't counted on at Everton. I was just one of many.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
And I was low on the totem pole. When I went to Everton, I sat down with David Moyes the first day in a hotel in Bolton. And this was before the 2006 World Cup when he was wanting to bring me to Everton. And the trust that he gave me. And my desire to never let him down. He became a father figure to me. He became, I feared him because I feared letting him down.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
And that's way more powerful than actually being afraid of someone.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
I don't know. I don't know. I don't like… You know, I have my opinions on how relegation should be run from here on out. Because what happens in the Premier League is the product… The product gets diluted if all of a sudden we're having teams that can't even barely reach several digits of points.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
The Glaswegian accent.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Mbidi. And then… Everyone shall remain nameless, but my first season at Everton, to kind of put a bow on this, there was a player who, after the game, everybody run. We won the game. Everyone's buzzing. Manager comes in, gives his chat, and then it goes out. Guys get in the shower, and then the guys who didn't play... have to go on the pitch and run. You see it every weekend. They got to run.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
They got to get their stats up, get the running stats up to, you know, with the guys who played in the game. So we had this one Joey on the team and he said, I ain't going to run. I'm not running. And the fitness coach is pleading with them. So finally the boys go out to run.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
And obviously the fitness coach was like, Gaffer, listen, we're going to, we got to go do our fitness, but so-and-so is not running. Well, we won 4-0. Everyone was jovial until Moisey came back in the dressing room. And he got to grips with this fella and just starts pinning him up against the wall. And he says, you're not going to do what? This guy was talking big before the guy forgot him.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Anyway, he got his clothes and left and said he was going to call the police and whatever. Anyway, job done, mate. That was great. So good. So I was scared of Moisey, for sure.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Yeah. And Gretzky was there, right? Am I, am I, am I correct in saying that?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
I know that's on the day before. I mean, Ovechkin has been incredible. I mean, his names and hip hop songs for crying out loud. Like he's, he's incredible. I often think about these goals, these records, these goal records. And like, yes, you have to be talented, but,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
but you have to have longevity you can't you can't you can't have one or the other you have to have both and i think the longevity piece for me like to be that good and that consistently good over over over so many years like more than a decade it's just it blows my mind it's you know your hat goes off to me just kind of speechless like there's not many of these guys out there and to break the record of you know not only does gretzky have the record gretzky is the greatest ever
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
And so I think teams, and this is for a larger conversation about relegation and parachute payments, but I think teams should have a percentage of their parachute payment taken away if they can't reach 10 points or 15 points. I mean, think about this. Think about this. Teams, and we talk about how great the Premier League is now. 40 points used to be the target. It's going to be half of that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Right. So like that, that to me was pretty fun. Yeah. I think that's the cool thing about team sports, man. Like you feel it when you're, when one of your teammates breaks record, like you feel like you were a part of it, you know? And so, yeah, that was fun to see.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
probably not but it'd be close half of that you don't have 25 yeah i mean you can you should be able to get you should be able to get 20 points with your eyes closed it's it's it's not great and you're saying because just because they didn't they're not spending right i mean they're not they're not putting together a product that's capable they're not spending and i think you know my other big and and nobody i mean obviously we we look forward to your comments but nobody will convince me
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
that there aren't a number of ways to win football matches. What they basically did was they came in, the owners came into the club and created an ethos of how we're going to play. So we're going to play, we're going to do the pep style. We're going to be expansive play in between lines. Right. And we're going to hire managers that, that, uh,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Fit that, train that way. We're going to sack one manager off because he's not getting results, but then we'll bring another manager in who plays that way. We still don't get results. The bottom line is when you get into the Premier League, you stay in the Premier League by hook or crook. It doesn't matter.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
And if at a certain point you get enough years in the Premier League and you have enough money in terms of investment, you can then go buy higher quality players. What nobody is telling people In the world of football, if you want to play like Pep Guardiola, you have to have stars. You have to have stars.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
You cannot play like Manchester City or Barcelona or the other couple of teams in the world that play that style and have average Premier League players. You just can't do it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
My suggestion is, and we see this with Ange Postakoglu at Tottenham, which we'll get to. Top world-class players, which you and I both were, enjoy the challenge of different formations and different ideas. If on your best day, your team was playing a 4-4-2. And all of a sudden, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Someone changed and said, Landon, today we're going to play a 4-3-3 and you're going to be on the wing and you're going to do... This is the new job for you. You'd relish that. You can take these ideas on board. What these managers do is they marry themselves to formations and then they go, this is how we're going to play no matter what.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
And by the way, if the stuff hits the fan and I have to change, now I look weak so I won't change. No, you're actually saying, hey, we're going through an injury crisis a la Tottenham or... We have to match up with Manchester City today. So guess what? We're not going to play the same way.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
We're actually going to try and be a bit more stout defensively and give ourselves a chance to hang in the game. No, we'll go toe-to-toe with them. We'll be expansive because this is the way I play. The managers have got a responsibility to be more flexible or hire a manager that has the ability to play. Nuno Espirito Santos is a perfect example of that. He has the flexibility.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Sometimes we're in the back three, sometimes we're in the back four. Thomas Frank always says... When we play teams that we think we can beat, we play one formation. When we play the top six, we play a different formation. He doesn't look weak. He doesn't look weak. So the manager's got to do a better job.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Yep.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
You know, it's interesting. A dear friend of mine is a Tottenham season ticket holder, and he has been for many moons. Poor guy. As much as he's critical of parts of the club, which supporters are, he also – we had a long chat back and forth on text, and he wrote me a long text about so many of the good things that have happened at Tottenham Football Club under Daniel Levy.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
And so it is a balancing act. I think you have to – I think you have to figure out as a supporter, like, what are you willing to live with? Right. Because no ownership group is perfect. So I know you get a lot of these protests and I think sometimes fans, they feel the sense of,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Ownership with the club and I get it because they're passionate and they do invest at a certain level into the club, you know?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
And to your point, Tottenham as a whole from the hierarchy have said, have told the global public they are a big six club. We are a top club in the world. So they've set the bar that way.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
It's kind of crazy because, like, on one hand, I do agree with you. I mean, like, you can start rattling off the best midfielders in Premier League history and quickly get to, like, eight without even, like, batting an eye, right? And then you're questioning, like, could he even get in that team? Which speaks to the power of the Premier League, but also, like, hang on a minute.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
He's won like 14 trophies or something, you know, in his time at City. Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, like he's done it all. And he's been the captain and he's been brilliant and sensational regarding assists and goals like... and some of the spectacular variety. So it's like, wow, like how great is the Premier League and how great is he? So those debates are always really fun.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
I had the interesting thing about De Bruyne, and I think Mo Salah is the only one, I think there's probably three that I can really name that have ever done this to any real extent, is Kevin De Bruyne, to use English terminology, failed in England. He was at Chelsea, wasn't good enough, right? Went to Germany. Very few people reenter the Premier League and have this sort of career.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Loved that. Did you do the fire and the truck and the shrimp?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
People come and go into Premier League and like, oh yeah, he played on a certain team and now he's okay. But to do, to basically fail, Mo Salah was the same. Mo Salah was the same at Chelsea, right? Then he, I think he went to Roma and like, you couldn't have seen this coming. I played against Kevin De Bruyne at Chelsea. Wolfsburg, City, and with Belgium.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
I mean, to see the rise, you know, it's absolutely incredible. So hats off to him. I mean, what's next for him, LD?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Well, it's funny that my daughter and I saw the preview for Snow White and we looked at each other like, yeah, we'll come back. Because we try and go see the movie. It's not even like you recline in these big chairs. You can get a glass of wine and some popcorn. It's just like spending time with your kids is great. But I got to see it. I worked all weekend. So soccer, soccer, soccer.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Yeah, I mean, we're talking based on some substantiated rumors, right, that he'll go to San Diego. I love it. I got to be honest. I know he's 34 years old, but he's a fiddle, right? Let's start there. He's really easy on the eye. You know, you are one of those players who kind of glide across the grass. He does that. He operates. He's very efficient, right? He's very efficient, tidy in his touch.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
He lets the ball do the running form a lot. Mm-hmm. Still, you know, Pep's weird. Pep Guardiola's weird because he didn't play a lot this season, right? And so with Pep, he falls in and out of love with players very quickly, right? Phil Foden last year had a career year. Now he's crap. He's been dropped, right? So he falls in and out of love.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
Don't mistake the fact that Kevin De Bruyne can play 35 games in the Premier League easy, right? Like easy this season. So I think he goes there. And the other thing is, and Miami's a perfect example of this, They've got some real talent in San Diego. That team's going well. You all of a sudden put a guy into a team that's going well, that's a different story.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
USWNT Win, Liverpool Lose, De Bruyne on the Move, & DC Decline
So many of these big players, because this is what we do in MLS, you get this player From abroad, he's a star. And you're like, sell some seats. Be our savior. That's different because that is going to gas these players out. They're going to be like, I ain't got time for this, bro. I passed the ball to a guy. They can't even kick the ball, right? That's different.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Yeah, yeah. I think there's no way in the world Manchester United gets relegated. So Forrester are going to have to pull a Leicester for me in this one. Yeah. Not in Forrester to win the league. It ain't happening. Well, United getting relegated didn't happen, and no chance.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
What's more likely? Mo Salah, this thing's funny. Mo Salah is one of the greatest of the greats. Look, Trent Alexander-Arnold's going to Real Madrid. When? I don't know. He's going to Real Madrid. Most solid... He spoke in the media in the mixed zone for the first time in forever a couple weeks ago and talked about his contract.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
And then yesterday, he scores the goal and then he does that celebration. Then he prays and then he lays down and salutes. It was all this weird, like, this is my last kind of hurrah thing. And then he got interviewed this week and said, what's more important, the Champions League or the Premier League? And he said the Premier League because...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
This is what unfiltered is all about. It's okay to love your kids and yet at the same time want them to be out of the house in school.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
you know, like kind of like this, this is the last, this is the last time I'll do it. Like, so he was emphatically saying, it feels like he's negotiating in the media. Um, Van Dyke is, is, is tried and tested. He's a brilliant captain. He's exactly what you, how you want, uh, your contract negotiations to go because we know nothing about Virgil van Dyke, not from Liverpool, not from his side.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Um, I think the answer is Liverpool extends Virgil van Dyke's contract.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
And how is this happening? Let me throw this wrinkle in, just to add on to what you're saying. I think in certain moments, there are outliers. And I think this is a situation where... there's an outlier. And I think ultimately, if there's a solution, I think Liverpool budge. Here's why. Because you have a player.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Liverpool, which like a lot of clubs, but Liverpool do it really well in terms of recruitment. There's a certain age where no matter how good you are, we don't give you extra contracts. We don't give you extensions. We don't give you extra years. That's how a lot of clubs do it. And they're right because the numbers tell you at a certain age, people tail off, right? Now, you look at Mo Salah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Now, can he, because the end happens fast. So can he fall off in the next 18 months? Sure. But he's looking at it. His body's perfect. His lifestyle is perfect. He's scoring goals at an unbelievable clip, which is consistent with what he's done before. He's looking at it and going, forget, I should get a raise and I should get more money because look how well I'm doing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
So I agree with him, but I also agree with Liverpool saying, hey, we have a wage structure. We have a way of doing things and we don't really want to break that and set that precedent where, but they might have to.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
In a lot of ways, I think MLS can do better. I've seen, I've heard, I've been a part of head coaching hiring. I know you have as well from a front office ownership standpoint in various roles. And I just think a lot of the things I hear, LD, in terms of how clubs go about the hiring process, I think they're overcooking it. I think they're overthinking it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
I know for a fact, and in some of my playing days, it's like trying to reinvent the wheel. Every GM, every president, every owner wants to unearth the next best gem. The hard process for me is so often, and we see this with the names that we've just read, It's about how you interview. And that to me is a shame.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
That to me is a shame because it should be about how you, how you as a, as a hiring group can reference and back reference people who have worked with this coach, good and bad, have enough wherewithal and Intel to, to decipher some of that information, right? Because if you talk to enough players are going to go, I hate this guy. Well, okay. That doesn't mean he's not good. Um,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
No, it's fine. It's totally fine. Unfortunately for our children, they have privileged parents that they get to drive crazy because my mom, when she was out working two jobs, it was like, bro, there's some soup in the pantry. Have at it. I'll see you at five.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
and and you have to have enough layers now i don't think a lot of a lot of ownership groups and executives have enough layers in the game to back channel and so then it becomes all about the interview process and the person who can be lights out in an interview is the one that gets the job and i think that that's that's a scary thing and i think we're seeing that i listen i've lived this um
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Listen, hang on. Real quick. There's... You're... Sadly, I'm looking out my window. It's snowing, which is amazing. It's like a winter wonderland in New York. You are not an East Coast guy. So Toronto and NYFC are out. Why don't you put your name in the hat for Vancouver Whitecaps? No, no, no. Why? Why are we not going down that route?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Yeah, that's true.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
You're a bad interviewer.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Yeah. Everywhere?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
37%.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Well, I think you hit the nail on the head. It's going to be, I re I reckon that the Philadelphia fans will, who are notoriously, um, passionate. I think they'll probably give this experiment some time because they want to, they want a winner.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
And obviously it will, it will probably lead to some exciting football, but to your point, they are Red Bull people, the GM and the coach of Red Bull people. And if that doesn't start well, um, there'll be a lot of discontent. I think those numbers, as you just mentioned, it might work out, Tim, it might work out.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
What were your thoughts? I think the game was slow to boil. Coming into the game, you, me, and everybody else was kind of like, how bad is this going to be? Right. Liverpool flying high on merit and, and United just sinking like a stone and can't seem to get things right under Amarim. And then you're also like, this is a Darby. It's the biggest Darby in British football.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
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Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
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Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Okay, okay, it is time for USLNT on USMNT. Anthony Robinson of Fulham and US Men's National Team takes home the US Soccer Male Player of the Year honors. Well done. Deserved, well deserved. Yeah, I had a chance to interview him on behalf of US Soccer and NBC. We ran the interview. Just a delight, an absolute delight to talk to. By the way, he was Fulham's Player of the Year last season.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Just so awesome to, to hear him speak and the joy on his face when he won the award. And, you know, it's, um, it's an interesting one because he, he talked about and mentioned that like now sometimes wears a captain's armband for Fulham.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Uh, one of the biggest in the world. And it's kind of like, like, when are they going to show up? They haven't had any leadership. They don't have any continuity on the field. You know, the least they can do is head it and kick it. They didn't do that against Newcastle. So you're just like, Whoa, big worry. Um,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Um, that like so much of the play goes down his side and it's, it's like when you're that good and you become, you become that dominant, the, the team naturally and also tactically, they want to go down your side. They want to play down your side because they trust you. And we, you and I have talked about what the U S men's national team leadership, trust, accountability.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Like, you know, when you can start having multiple players like that, um,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Yeah. You know, the cool thing, Landon, is like, it's fun. And I know people always ask, right? But we've been getting asked since the beginning of time. When's the U.S. going to produce another world-class player or a world-class player? And when is the U.S. going to win a World Cup? When you're out and you're in the airports or you're shopping, that's what people talk to you about, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
And we always get that question. And it's funny because your natural thought is like world-class, world-class, world-class. Okay, it's got to be a number 10 or it's got to be a stringer, right? I think what we're starting to see, and I mentioned this on air, like... he may be like, I think Kristen Pulisic is in that conversation, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
We talked about Gio Reyna in terms of generational talent, but Anthony Robinson can be world-class, is starting to get himself in that conversation. And for anybody, I don't think anybody is, but maybe people who are scoffing at that, like he's doing the business week in, week out for fun. And by the way, rumors about City wanting him, rumors about Liverpool wanting him.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
But by the way, if he goes to Liverpool, and plays left back every week for Liverpool, he's a world-class left back. So he's in that conversation. And as an American, as a former US men's national team player, It's awesome. It's awesome that we can have one of our players mentioned in the same breath as world-class players.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
There was some back and forth in the first half, a little bit boring, a little slow to boil, and then just fireworks in the second half. And I'll be honest with you, Liverpool did everything I expected them to do because they're just a well-oiled machine going really well under slot. But United impressed me. And maybe the bar is low. It is low for United, but they impressed me.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
I think he does well. I think so too.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Like, no problem. So I think when you look across the Premier League… It's always about players who are at those mid table clubs. And the question is, can they make the jump? If they make the jump, how will they do? He's a player for me. If Anthony Robinson makes the jump to a big six team, I think he, I think he flies. I think he soars.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Um, trivia question for you based on, on the U S soccer, uh, male player of the year, who was the last defender to win this award? And then you get bonus points if you get the year.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Okay. It's our era defender on our teams. Central. Central defender. 2006 is the hint.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Wow. I mean, Gooch.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
My phone's going to go off soon when Gooch hears that name. The surprise on your face is priceless.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
I don't know when that was. If that was in like the Milan days. I don't know where it was. It might have been at Standard. It might have been at Standard Liège.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
That's good.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Yes, LD, we are back. We are back. It's been a while. I haven't seen you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Well, I mean, look, the good news is I was reading all sorts of wild reports about his injury and how he was going to be out months, and I was thinking, this is not good. But the fact that he's recovered and playing is fantastic. So obviously scoring, taking a penalty, brilliant from Christian. Look, the coaching change, I think it's hard for a player like
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
in the sense that they rolled their sleeves up. They gave as good as they got. They had chances to win the game. They didn't crumble when the moment seemed to get too big. Some good performances. And even Ruben Almiron came out in the end and said, like, the bad news for these players is I now know they can do it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Christian Pulisic because coaching changes are one thing. If you're a middle-of-the-road guy and a coach comes in, you're like, I'm going to just work hard and I'll get my name on a team sheet. Like, he's been a star or a star in the making most everywhere he's gone, right? Like, he's either been the prodigy or up-and-coming star or actually the star. So, like...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
When a new coach comes in, there's so much pressure on you to perform and live up to that and have to like impress the coach because your reputation precedes you. So, and look, he's done that and he's lived up to it. And in fact, I've even said that at Chelsea with all the coaching changes, he kept getting the short end of the stick.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
I thought his performances were fantastic and yet new coach after new coach after new coach. So yeah, it's a difficult one. I mean, I'd be curious, you know, his own thoughts. Is it like old hat at this point or is it getting frustrating?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Well, I also think, I also think, you know, as you grow and mature, right? Like that's, there's a, it's a new challenge. Like, Hey, you know, cause you know, as an older player, when a new manager comes in, the responsibility is like sit down with the gaffer, figure out like, what is it you need from me? How can I continue to convey your message to the team? And so it might be a new challenge.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Wild little step. I'm certain I played against Sergio Constanceau when he was at Porto, which is, it tells you how old I am, but I don't know.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Like, you and I have been on teams where it's like, oh, boy, we just set the standard. So our training standard needs to be higher. Our match standards need to be higher because, you know what? Before this game, I wasn't sure you could do it. Now I know you can.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
I think it's – in terms of the pecking order, it's slightly – I was going to say up for grabs. It's not slightly up for grabs. But I think he gets himself in the shop window week in, week out in MLS. And, again, big price tag, big fee. I think there's a ton of pressure and spotlight on him, which is great. I think that's a good thing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
It's a hard question to answer because Flo, we don't know – Flo Baligan, like – I think he'll get back fit. I think he'll be just as strong. But that rust takes a little bit of time. Does he hit the ground running? Does it take him longer to find his form? I don't know. I don't know that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
I think it's good. I think it's good to look for for the US men's national team. It's good to have competition for places. And the best possible thing is to have a bunch of strikers who are hungry or arrogant, who want more time because you know what, at their clubs are scoring. So why not me? That would be a good thing if he can do that this season.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Oh, yeah. You know what time it is. Mailbag time. And that means JR's favorite time of the week. Jordan, get on in here, please. What's up, guys?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Santa brought it for Christmas. Are you like a Milan fan? Are you a Pulisic fan?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
It's a dope shirt.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Champagne?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
It was.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
No, I'm sure.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
People from like San Diego and stuff. Jordan, what do you got for us?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Yeah. Go, go, go. He's earned it. He's a young kid from Liverpool. He and I played together when he was a youngster at Everton. He then put in his time, put in his work at Wigan. And I think Bolton, you know, on loan when they were, they were, I think, championship or league one at that time. And then he goes to Fulham. Fulham's a brilliant football club, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
And so at this point, you don't move from Fulham to go sideways. You only move to go up. And if Liverpool or City or any of those rumors are true, you absolutely go because you deserve it. And I think he, look, I think the way they play, as you mentioned, uh, the way city play in terms of how he played, you know, cause he's playing that inverted fullback.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Now, if you watch with, uh, with Fulham, you know, we'll be, we'll, we'll pull wide and he'll go underneath. And so he understands that role, which is what the, how the big teams are playing. Um, I think he moves. I would be shocked if he doesn't move.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
The problem with Bees is he was like a, he was at one point like a world-class winger. You know, he's like, you know, you guys came up together and then he transitioned to be a brilliant left back.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
But, but if you look at Anthony Robinson, he's, he is a left back. He's a left wing back. I mean, that's who he is. And he is prototypical of what you want. I would put him, I would put him as the best left back. I know it's so, it's so hard. Cause he's, you know, he's, he's, he's young ish, but nah, I would put him up at the top. You like that answer? Is that Evan? I thought that was great.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Ultimately, in two years' time, right? I do believe Amram's the right guy. I think he'll get plenty of time. In two years' time, 18 months' time, guess what? Most of these players won't be there. This team will be unrecognizable. I mean, the issue at hand, and you mentioned it, you hit the nail on the head. Against Newcastle, look, they got the performance against Liverpool.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Thanks.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Happy New Year. How was your New Year's Eve? Are you a New Year's Eve guy?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Yeah. So often it's on the coach, unfortunately. You know, a good manager can galvanize a team. And look, there's not a perfect science. It's such a difficult question because I think everybody's at fault.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
think ownership i think coach i think players ultimately managers get fired right like managers get fired more than players get turned over more than owners sell the club and managers get fired when you know they talk about the term losing the dressing room and that's a real thing it's it's kind of a blanket statement but it's a real thing losing the dress room is basically basically you get a bunch of
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
They're a bunch of human beings who sit in meeting rooms and locker rooms and buses and hotels, and they hear the same voice, and that voice no longer excites them. It no longer jolts them. It no longer scares them. Forget excitement.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
They don't respect it. Fear and respect is what I played for, for my manager. Most of my managers I feared, and the other ones I feared and respected, and that's why. And then all of a sudden, you can see it. I'm going to guess, Landon, you've been on teams.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
I've been on teams where I could see it and I'm just like, rock bottom has a trap door because I'm looking at these guys and they're soulless. Manager speaks, it walks out and I'm looking around and I'm going, and as a senior leader, you try and do your best and you hope that that's not, you're not one of them, but oh, it's ugly. And so it's the manager, unfortunately. Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Against Newcastle, ball got played in the box, they didn't stop the cross, and the ball got headed. We talk about formations. You're a central defender, check your shoulder, grab a hold of someone's shirt, and head the ball. That's got nothing to do with formations and 4-3-3s. It has nothing to do with that. So you wondered all the time about...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Moyse. Good question. It's a good question that goes back to, I would say Houston, but we've got a great coach in Ben Olson, so he's not going anywhere. I think David Moyes at some point will end up in MLS. The problem is David Moyes is a brilliant football manager, right? Going back to the conversation LD and I just had at the beginning of this episode,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
There will be so many GMs and presidents and owners in the MLS. When his name comes up, they'll go, he doesn't play an expansive brand of football. We want to go younger. Listen, if you want to hire somebody to win you football matches, hire David Moyes. Honestly, he'd be a good fit, but he also, like Bruce Arena, like Greg Berhalter, he's going to need power.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
He's going to need power because there's a likelihood that when he enters your football club, He is the most brilliant, intelligent soccer mind in the entire football club. So you're going to have to give him... Oh, there's no question he is. You're going to have to give him more power as a GM, player selection, recruitment. So, yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Ben, great question, Ben. Love it. I'm going to let you tackle it. I got my own thoughts on this.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
who was going to step up for the Manchester United team. And they didn't give you any real hope, but on the day, very good.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Yeah, I mean, to kind of piggyback off that, it's do the dollars make sense? And love the American soccer fan. I do. I'm one of them. I see him every week. We speak to him every week. You know, so many of our listeners are the U.S. soccer fans. If you look at... Everton's a good example. I think with the TFG group, I think there's a possibility of that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
I think they're certainly... I believe they're Texas-based, and I would imagine those conversations are being had. The way to do it would be most likely having a plan to every single preseason you're in America.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Right.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
But... Look, the fact of the matter is these teams get boatloads of money to go to Australia and to Asia and to different parts of Africa. Like, they do, right? So...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
So if someone drops a load of money on Everton's plate and says, hey, we want to fly to Australia and play three games, and the other option is to go to America, but it's for like half the money, in PSR, profit and sustainability era that we're in, these things matter. But the fans matter. And so do you... Do you identify one or two U.S.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
men's national team players that you think can play for Everton? And that brings more eyeballs? Possibly. But as you said, Landon, so much of that is strategic and manufactured. But to your point, ultimately... They're an American-based group, and they might have American ideas, and they want to sell the club as much in England and Europe and globally as they do in America.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
So that's a possibility. I certainly hope that that's the case.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Thanks, JR.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Me too. I'm going to take hell for this. I'm certain. But that's what the comments are for.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
I'm going to get slaughtered for it. But I think, and I'm roping you in because I don't think you love it, but I don't think you hate my take. My take is college football playoffs. I have college football playoff fatigue. I said it. I said it. Hear me out. Hear me out. There's so many games. Now, it's the first year, so maybe I'll know where to find the games.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
I know they've all been on my TV and all that, and I've watched a bunch of them. There's so many games that the gloss has kind of come off for me. And I just look at bowls in general, right? And I watched these bowl games go away from the playoff for a second. There's nobody, any, anything outside, anything outside of the bowl playoff series. There's nobody at the games.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
I watched a bowl game the other day. There was nobody there. This is the culmination of your career as a player of, of your season. There was, I might get this wrong. There was a player from Louisville who didn't get paid his NIL money that he was promised in September. And he didn't go to the bowl game as like a protest. It's become a farce.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
And look, it's become professional football too, basically. And, you know, I also, I'm a traditionalist. When I look at like the Sugar Bowl, the Rose Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Orange Bowl, they don't mean anything anymore. Like I watched, who was it that won the Rose Bowl? Uh, was it? No, I can't remember.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
So Ohio state wins the Rose bowl. And it's like, they didn't really win the Rose bowl. They just won a quarterfinal. And I'm like winning the Rose, but there's some people who literally spend their whole life saying I won the Rose bowl and they'll be cut. It's going to get lost. Um, Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
I mean, look, I love college football and I probably will get reinvigorated at some point, you know, watching the semifinals or finals, but it just seems like there's a lot of games. I think I prefer four teams, but that's just me.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Look, I'm just a traditionalist, but I have the foresight enough to know that college athletics is no longer college athletics.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
It's professional. It is in every way. The money's too big. They're never going back to four teams. This is only going to get bigger and better. And I'm okay with it. Like, you know, I've jumped ship. I used to hate the fact that athletes were getting paid. That's for another time, college athletes. But this, the train has left the station and it ain't coming back. So I'll get reinvigorated.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
We'll talk more about it. But I have a little bit of fatigue at the moment.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Yeah, thank you, everybody. Always a pleasure to spend our hour or so with you. Thank you to our presenting sponsor, BW. Have a great week. You know exactly where to find us. We will see you next Tuesday on another edition of Unfiltered Soccer.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
We've seen Ange-Paul Stokoglou. I thought, you know, we obviously ran the interview on NBC. I thought he was out of order the way he spoke to the journalist. You know, his team is playing poorly at the minute. They're on a poor run. And, you know, my big thing was, hey, listen, Ang, if you're going to have a pop at the referee, go on and be a big man and have a pop at the referee.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
He wanted to kind of mask his words a little bit. And then the interviewer came back at him and he masked his words like, Just say it. Say it. It's no problem. But anyway, it wasn't a handball for me. But look, by letter of the law, I think, Landon, to give some clarity to this, world football is governed by IFAB, right? But each individual league has their own governing body, their own lawmakers.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
And the PGMOL in the Premier League is the governing law body. And The way that the handball rule is written is if the arm's in a natural position, and this is what I have been begging for. And my counterpart, Robbie Musto, says it all the time. You don't run with your arms tied by your side. You're athletic. You jump. You sprint. Your hands are all over the place.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
No, listen. I think the holidays end on Christmas. Like, who wants to go out for New Year's Eve? I ended up... being forced to go out on new year's eve and my plan was it went to really nice restaurant plan was to get home before the ball dropped anyway dinner went long so um I had a champagne toast at midnight and I was in the Uber at 12.03 because I was like, this is boring and dumb.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
So you have to be allowed to go into a tackle or make a movement and have your arms be in what is considered a natural position. And so... And so Spurs lose the ball playing out of the back. Bergvall sprints to the ball. Joelinton sprinting to the ball. Bergvall gets there first and toes it because he wants to try and clear it out of the way.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
And, and Joelinton sees that and breaks down and gets in a, gets in a defensive position to get ready to block, you know, to, to go into a challenge and his arms down by his side. He's long and lanky and gangly his arms down by his side. The ball hits the back of his hand. It's not a handball. It's not a handball any day of the week. So, um,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
There was another one in the game, too, which is, again, close proximity where Jacob Murphy smashes the ball off Livermento's hand. But he knows nothing about it. He's in a natural position. So I don't think – look, we know, and you've probably done it as a coach, there's a lot to complain about. And you mask your own team's performances by complaining about the referees. But not for me.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
And they'll be like, God, look at this old legend. I'm like, I played against him.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
It wasn't Ponzi.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Well, it's an interesting play because I think what Mikel Arteta is kind of saying, which I agree with, is it's a strange play. I don't know if we're going to see this again for a while. Yeah, the way that happened. We'll have to find a link to it. But basically, Jean-Pedro's going away from goal, still in the penalty area.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
He's getting surrounded by Arsenal players, so he's a clever player, right? So as the ball's rolling to him, he flicks it up, basically flicks it up off the ground onto his head and does this kind of like little juggling routine where he now wants to turn the corner and he heads it up in the air to go around the defender, which is Saliba.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
And at the same time, Saliba tries to head the ball, but he's a second late and he ends up smashing João Pedro in the head. Now, the argument is, as Jal Pedro flicks it, it barely takes the little nick off of Saliba's head. The argument, which I agree with the referee and VAR, is, Saliba didn't head the ball.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
The ball touched him, but in the action, João Pedro played the ball around Saliba, and it just happened to take a nick off of him. He didn't defend it, per se. And the force in which he headed him also gets brought into account. So I think it's a penalty. I think if the ball's on the floor, it's the same thing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
If you nick it around a defender and he gets a piece of it, that doesn't necessarily mean that he's defended the ball if he takes out the player.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
No, and you make a great point. I mean, for the audience, you articulated it well. I think what you have to bear in mind when you're watching football now is it is exactly that. Defenders don't have free reign. So referees are now taking into account the force, the angle of the tackle, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Because you can get a piece of the ball and before defenders would get up from their slide and point to the ball. I got the ball, right? That's no longer the case. You've got to get a lot of the ball. in order for it to not be a foul. Like, if you get a piece of the ball and you take all of the player, it's likely a foul. It's just the way it is now.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Yeah, I would say City. I just think the... I do think they'll possibly come good, City, because they're just one of the most talented teams in the world. But I think the reason it's the biggest surprise is... And you and I talked about this a little bit, so I'm repeating myself, but...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Had you told me at the midway point that City were neck and neck at the top of the table, but they were second or third, a couple points off, I'd say, okay, I'll take that bet. But for them to have fallen and not performed, it's mind-blowing. They've fallen so far. Now, having said that, I do think they're talented enough to make a run back half of the season, but it shocks me.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Yeah, I agree with you on Forrest. Again, would have never taken that bet that they're this high on merit because they're playing well at the midway point. Up until about 10 days ago, I would have said Chelsea. I would have said like, wow. Yeah, they fell off a bit. Wow. Yeah, Maresca, like what a job you've done. But fair play to him, but still not the biggest. Yeah, I think Forrest for me.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Yeah. No, I know that. I know that. I get it. But I say that with all honesty. I don't think Everton are going to get relegated. And I do think that Manchester City will make a run at some point and be in the conversation.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
I think, no, well, I don't think either of those things are happening, but that's not the game. What's more likely? Tottenham win a trophy, I guess. I mean, our Premier League insider, David Ornstein at NBC said emphatically that the board has 100% backed him and he's in absolutely zero danger. Like, I know that sometimes that's a kiss of death, but it didn't sound like that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Yeah, but this… If they do it publicly. This sounded different. Like… It was… Yeah, it was… It was through back channels.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Antonee Robinson Gets Honored, Manchester United Get a Point at Anfield, and Brandon Vázquez Gets His Bag
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it doesn't feel great. They have one way of playing, and it's plan A and do plan A better. So, yeah. Yeah, okay.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
That's just the reality. I give you that. And I think the interesting for thing for our listeners is like, when you have, you just mentioned it there, when you have someone so dominant, who has a cheat code, you're like, you give them the ball. Right. And it's like in anything else. And I've been on these teams. It, Players are so dominant.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Even in a leadership role, there are some times where I can remember there being such strong leaders that you're like, I don't have to say anything or do anything. Like this is going to take care of himself. Boom. They get a long-term injury or they get, they get submitted. Now you turn up at the game and you're in the dressing room and no one's talking. And you're like, you know why?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Because this guy did everything for us. And it's the same thing on the pitch. I get in the trouble. My back's going, I don't know what they're. I know my mate's around the corner. I just play it to him. He'll sort it out. And by the way, he's got two people on him. I'll still give him the ball. And so when that happens, it's hard one to replace, to replace that person with a, a like for like.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
It's impossible, but it's also then you're now asking other players to take more responsibility when they're like, wait a minute, I've had to take responsibility. Let's give him the ball. You know what I mean? It's a different dynamic. They'll get it right. The Galaxy will get it right, but obviously slow start.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Funny how our producers did that back to back, but your team, mine too.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
So, yeah, I'm super stoked, man. What have you been up to?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Um, yeah, it's, it's an interesting dynamic, um, when it comes to Lionel Messi and MLS and Apple TV. And I mean, it's, it's, everyone knows the story. Um, Look, I think as an organization, we did the right thing in terms of compensating our fans who bought tickets in the hopes to see Lionel Messi by allowing them to come to a game complimentary of the Houston Dynamo at some point in the season.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
So again, I think we did the right thing. That being said... Lionel Messi missed 15 games, all competitions last year. My expectation is that Lionel Messi will miss 15 games, all competition, if not more in all competitions this year. That's just the, that's,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
pink elephant in the room you know no pun intended with their pink jerseys like he's going to miss games and i don't know you know well i do know that's not that's not on the away organization when he doesn't turn up um in your city that's not a reflection of the away organization in this case the houston dynamo but
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
you know, we're certainly sensitive to our fan base and felt, you know, felt the need to try and compensate them and in the best way we could, you know, but ultimately someone recently mentioned to me that like, well, like if Erland Holland for city doesn't turn up because he's been rested for playing Tottenham, Tottenham doesn't compensate their refund. Right.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
But, but I, you know, I get the argument.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Is Bex on the Galaxy Group chat?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Or has he opted out?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Yeah. Well, the problem, first of all, first of all, the powers that be.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
ain't retroactively suspending leonard i know they're not i'm not no i know no my point my point my point is though that creates its own problem because there's going to be a melee of some sort in the mls this season and that's going to happen and they're all going to get suspended and they're all going to get suspended and so you can imagine lee's going to get flooded with like pictures of a week did did messi get suspended for that new nyc fc game but yeah anyway
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Oh, yes. USLNT and USMNT. A lot of people's favorite segment. One of our favorites as well. So let's hop right in with Josh Sargent. Talk to me, LD.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Well, and as I say this, our producers will frantically tell me, I think one of the games recently he scored like two goals or something on like seven touches, something crazy like return, right? And I think what the manager is trying to say is essentially like, That's 12 touches, two goals and 12 touches. But, hey, if you get 30 touches, imagine what you could do.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
I think that's kind of what it is. Yeah, but it doesn't work that way. No, it doesn't. But I think the other part, I'm not, I think he sees a striker in form. This guy, clearly the manager knows what he's talking about. He sees a striker in form, and I think he's trying to get more out of him. Maybe he knows the character and makeup of Josh Sargent and knows that he can handle it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Yeah, but Tim, say that, just say that in private then.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Why would he say that publicly? I don't get it. Maybe he had the conversation with Josh. Maybe he genuinely had the conversation with Josh. Maybe Josh effed him off. I don't know. The other part, and I say this to all younger players. I certainly say it to my daughter. Here's the thing. Don't leave anything to question. And this is actually quite good. Because if Josh reads this,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
And he's playing well. And he's, and the manager says, need to run more, need to be involved in buildup, whatever it is now. there is no gray area. And if there is go to your manager and go, I heard what you said, like, how do I implement it in your eyes? What does running more look like running deeper, running beyond vertically, getting side to side, like talk to me.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
And now, now he'll have like a checklist of like one, two, and three things that I can do. Right. And I think, and I think that's helpful because what ends up happening is there's always, and you know, there's always a miscommunication between players and managers. And I don't know what he wants. And he's always on, he's always on my back. And, It's really easy.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
If you're a player, ask the manager what he wants. And in this case, he didn't have to ask him. He actually said it. So I think this is a good thing. Josh is in a good vein of form. I know you don't love it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
That's a really good point. And look, it's a great time for him to be in this form. No Balogun, no Pepe, which stinks for the team and for the depth. But next man up, Josh Sargent is playing really well. And this is, again, an opportunity. Kind of get in there and look, you get into the Naps team and you score the Nations League. Now you have more of an argument.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
And you were, which is amazing, especially at that age. And you were in New York, in my hood, doing Tim Howard things. Did you? Someone said they saw you at Bang Bang Tattoo Studio. What were you doing there? I cannot confirm or deny I was there. But you might have been. No, I got a tattoo. Did you?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Not many. I'm not sure.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Any?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
I feel like maybe, but big moment for him. Jesus, big moment for anybody to score against Real Madrid. So that's obviously, we'd love to highlight those.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Yeah, I mean, I think the thing for me has always been like, I love seeing American players thrive abroad, but also more than anything, I read between the lines.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
playing well being a part of a team is check number one when your manager's talking about you publicly about like how great you are for the team and how how important you are for the team it's like that's a different level that takes you totally level publicly right again so that's the opposite of the start like when they go out publicly and that means they trust you because it means not going to your head because a lot of times you're like oh man i'm invincible i'm gonna start it so when they say that publicly you're like okay that's
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Yep.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
But you're right. It's a great story. But with Tyler, it's no surprise, man. Jesus, I feel like every coach thinks that way of him, which means this isn't an accident. He doesn't just turn up every now and again. That's a kid who turns up every single day of training, every morning for breakfast, and is like, let's do this. And he can be counted on. That's a really special player.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Unsurprising.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
At some point we'll show it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
I mean, look. He'll probably tell you, look, nine games without a goal is probably kicking the wall in this house, right? Milan just haven't been in a good way this season. Things seem off with them in terms of on the field, in the dressing room. We're obviously not there, but you can tell with some of the changes that were made and and obviously what's been going on in terms of results.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Look, you know, this as well as I do when you're playing in a team, that's a bad form. Like it's, it's hard to stand out. You know, it's, I mean, his job is to score goals defenders. It's their job to keep it out, but you've been in teams. You've been in teams that just have no vibe and no flow and it's, and it's difficult. So no, I don't, I don't put that on Christian ballistic at all. Um,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Oh, you went deep, bro. That's crazy. I mean, it took a while.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
That's always, that's always a clever report is like, why, what, Managers trying to overthink things. Real quick, I want to give a shout out to Chris Richards. He's a player who I really like. He started going back to the Premier League, started 12 straight matches for Palace in that time. they've only lost two of the 12 conceded eight goals. They play in a back three.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Um, you know, he's, he's on, he's on either side, um, of that center back. So it's, he's, he's kind of found a home there, which is great under, under Oliver Glasner and palace. And, you know, it's, he was kind of in kind of out, but now again, the player really being counted. And I'm just curious as it will potch,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
You know, in Nations League, will he think that, you know, that's nailed on as well? Are you, you know, written into the starting lineup?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Totally. I'm at the point now where I'm super heavily tattooed where I tap out after like two hours. I'm like, I'm bored of this. This isn't fun anymore.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
And if you're him, you're like, who's going to play ahead of me?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Yeah, they are.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Nothing. I think it's good for the team. We always say we judge the women's national team by a higher standard because they win. They win all the time, right? And so it's not about, you know, when you have a loss, it is magnified when you're part of the women's national team. So, look, Emma Hayes is a fantastic coach. She has won everywhere she's been.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
She's won with this team, you know, talking about the gold medal. And as you form this new group, Like, you know as well as I do, and Emma's a really good coach. She'll take that loss and use it to their advantage. Because, by the way, in order to grow as a group, you need to have adversity, right? Like, you can't just be great all the time. No one ever is, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
And so, more than anything, the quality of your team is... oftentimes measured on how you react to adversity. So adversity sounds like a really dramatic word given that they lost that game 2-1. But I think the manager will use it to their favor. And I think obviously everything will be fine because there's some incredible talent on the team.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Not just the same old faces that we know that are household names, but like Ali Centenor and some of these women who are coming through really trying to make a name for themselves. The pipeline is really healthy and strong.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
I guess that's the way I would say it. Yeah. It looked nasty. I mean, Liam Roberts was a Millwall goalkeeper and yeah, comes flying out. You know, you oftentimes see with goalkeepers and I've been guilty of this, like these compound errors of like, Oh, I made a really bad decision. And yeah, All right. I got an idea. I'm going to fix it by making another really bad decision.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Like, but also it's like, it lives in the psyche that every goalkeeper coach, I don't know if they do it now, but every goalkeeper coach for forever would constantly say once a week, like take everything. If you make the wrong decision, take everything. Like that was the thing. Like if you come off your line.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
And you've made a bad decision, just clatter into somebody like literally it's, it's, it's common knowledge. And so, but yeah, obviously keepers flying, like literally like a karate kick with his studs up, catches Mateta in the face.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
You know, the only thing I would say, actually, again, I referenced my career and like my daughter and she's a striker and she was, she's tough and she's strong and she'd always go into tackle with goalkeepers LD. And I said to her, you can probably appreciate this. There was a point in time where she was getting injured. And I said, if you see the goalkeeper coming, get out of the way.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
And I'm telling you this. It ain't worth it. I'm looking in the eyes. I'm telling you, get out of the way. Because it's not worth it. And in that case, you're like, oh, my God. You just wish. Yes, it's the goalkeeper, Liam Roberts' fault. But you're just thinking, I wish you just protected yourself. There was nothing there for you. You know what I mean? Totally.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Really?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
The only problem is sometimes, and I get this spatial awareness, but it's also on your peripheral. There's a defender there, so he's looking at the defender. At what point did he take the snapshot of the goalkeeper? I don't know.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Big JP Mateta. Be all right.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
He was looking for a fight, and there was no stopping him. I've been there before. I get it. It happens. It was nasty.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Yeah, let me say this. You saw that Anthony Gordon was just...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
frustration at the end i mean shoves he shoves the brighton defender over he ends up catching him a little bit like in the neck area there wasn't a lot in it but when you when you put your hands up above the neck you can't do it but here's what i hate and i know i know the argument i'm not dumb to the argument like it's the same governing body right the fa
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
But I hate when red cards carry over to different competitions. I'm all for him being suspended for the next FA Cup match next season or whatever. I'm all for that. And I know it's the same governing body. I get it. But when you get sent off in a World Cup, you're not going to miss Premier League games.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Yeah. I don't like it, but whatever. It's part of it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
You and a lot of people.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
I hear that, bro. I'm on both sides. I see it on both sides of the fence. Yes, question's been asked. Okay. Are players hypersensitive to criticism more so now? Yes, absolutely. You wanted to get the best out of me? Give me tough love. Drive me. Criticize me. That's how I thrived. But no, I think... Players today have struggle with that based on a whole host of things. But yes.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
I think some managers, you know, popular managers have kind of allowed that to creep into the game.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Then leave, right? Look, they still have something to play for. They play Real Sociedad in Europa League on Thursday. Sticking with Ten Hag, though... I think the managers have a lot to be responsible for as well. Like so many managers who put on this brave face, they're not that behind closed doors. They're afraid to have like one-on-one conversations. and have confrontations.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Like, it's okay to disagree. Like, I think one of the greatest coaches in the world who's God's gift to coaching is Thomas Frank at Brentford. And if you watch the way he operates and he talks to his players and the way he recruits his players, like, he has an understanding that things aren't always going to be great. And he gets his arm around these players.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
like ultimately like i said i do think there's some tough love involved and if we're talking about man united i remember them saying and this is you talk about parenting which is a reason social media which is absolutely a reason one of the other things that they've taken out of certainly in england was the youth team and this is going to be based on laws and and children and and work and labor but they used to clean boots and people like what does that mean like literally you know phil neville
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
a whirlwind of a couple of weeks of traveling and all sorts of crazy stuff.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
would have to go to the first team and get Eric Cantona's boots.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
And you'd have to clean them. And every day, it wasn't the kit, man. It was filling up. So you're learning these lessons, right? And then Cantona gave you a shirt or put his arm around you and gave you a money bonus at Christmas. But, like, you learn these things. These young kids now don't have to do anything. They think they're God's gift to soccer. It says it on their social media.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
They get a really nice car and they post. You weren't allowed to do that back then. You were put in your place and you were told to earn it. Oh, you would have been destroyed.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
It's time for the Fan Connection presented by AT&T. Every week, we invite you, the listener, to connect with us by submitting your questions. The best way to grow the game of soccer in the U.S. is to keep asking questions and keep talking about the sport we all love. At AT&T, connecting changes everything. And on USLNT, our connections with you will help grow the game.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
We love a bit of AT&T fan connection, don't we? Yes, we do. And you know what else Landon loves it? Jordan. We always say her favorite time of the week. And we love Jordan. Get in here, Jordan. How are you? Hello, Jordan. Hello. What shirt are you wearing? You always have something crazy.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Just a side note, because I want to make sure we get clarity. If any of my family members Text or call in. Do not read it live on air, but keep going.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Don't care. I don't care. I think it was. You don't care. I don't care. It's a dumb rule.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
No. So what's the evolution? It was when I started playing, pick it up. You have four seconds. Sorry, four steps. Right. And they change it to six seconds. And then now it's eight seconds. They're going to enforce it for.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
like what are they going to do are they going to count like a like a like a nba referee like i'm fine with that by the way if the referee like one two three like it's good it's so subjective and like right and by the way you know it's going to lead to to lead the managers on the sideline going one two three and they're all players too yeah of course so the whole crowd's gonna be like one and yeah
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
I mean, the timing of it. I mean, big shout out to Jacob Murrell. I was watching and thinking, that's it. I'm thinking shirt off into the stands, like go crazy. It was especially because it was an equalizer as well. It's not like his team was just, I mean, that would have been a brilliant goal no matter what. I mean, a proper bicycle kick.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Which probably will happen, which is good. I mean, if it speeds it up, to be honest, I didn't read who, who, who, who made that rule? Like who brought that in?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Landon, would you say that like goalkeepers have held the balls long? They waste time on the ball. It's a joke.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Yeah, it was IFAB, International Football Association Board. But look, ultimately, my big thing with wasting time, which I always wasted time, right? At some point, it doesn't have to be first half, but at some point, like mid-second half when the team's winning, just book the keeper, man. I'm telling you now, if I got a booking, I'm going to get the ball and I'm not getting sent off.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Don't care about the rule. Thanks, man.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
There's a fan connection.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
He meant every ounce of it, like sweet contact, let the goalkeeper, no chance. It was a, yeah, massive, massive shout out to Jacob Murrell.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
but you're you're you're going here's the thing you're going to watch the women's world cup so you will have netflix right like that's that yeah yeah and also right and also your your seven what eight nine dollar matcha latte that you got this morning in san diego Also would have paid for a lot. Would have also paid for two.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Kind of the way that things are going. It's, it's, it's a tough one. It is. I mean, I look, I, I hear what people are saying. I watch everything. And I subscribe to, I think, double the platforms you subscribe to. Because there's shows I want to watch and things I want to see on all these different ones. And they're getting us. But I mean, I think there's also good value.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
You do get it. I'm old.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Yeah, I mean, I think that, for me... Like, I love football. It's who I am. It's my identity. I love everything about it. It's given me the greatest joys of my life.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Fair enough. Case in point. You know, I don't enjoy playing anymore. One, because it hurts and I can't. And I don't know. That bucket is empty for me. Right. So, like, I don't I don't get any joy or satisfaction of playing the game anymore. But I love being around. I love watching. I love watching my daughter play. I love being involved in soccer conversations at ownership level, at analyst level.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
I love it. So, you know, look, the other side of it, I think, Jordan, which is, you know, it was a great question.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
people oftentimes are like you're an athlete what do you do next and i'm like nobody ever asked a lawyer after they went to law school and they've practiced law for 15 years to go what are you going to do next and they never asked a doctor after they've performed thousands of surgeries what this is who we are right or you would never ask that question because you'd be like that's a dumb question so the same thing goes for me i've had friends but like i'm going to pivot and i'm like
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Yeah, but why? You have your PhD through incredible life experiences in soccer. Why would you pivot to real estate? Now, some have. It's fine. But I look at them like, that doesn't make sense to me. No one else does that. So I'm going to naturally stay in my lane, which is football and soccer, because I love it. I adore it. I can't play anymore. So what's next? And yeah, I find...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
As I said, trial and error, some things in the game you like. I don't like coaching. Don't enjoy it. Never really wanted to do it. So I kind of ticked that box and said, that ain't for me. But yeah, love the game.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
They've got a lot of good pieces as well. I think, you know... I think your, your take on it was probably in the preseason accurate because you just don't know, you know, what are all the moves that they make the right ones. Are they going to gel? They look really, I mean, Baribo, by the way, what a player you have to have a goal scorer in this league. And he just looks bang on it, man.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Wow, your birthday's tomorrow.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Tim Howard. Shout it out loud. Shout it out loud. Oh, really? Pisces, yeah. Oh, you're Pisces, right? Amazing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
I've had some people who wanted to wish me other than that, but keep going.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Ooh, I like this. Here we go. Len's so nervous.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
By the way, very few people know that on the inside we called Landon Larry, and that's just amazing. Also, by the way, DeMarcus Beasley, one of the greatest players and greatest human beings you're ever going to meet. I absolutely love him. We're doing dinner.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
You know the great thing? God bless Stu. I love that kid. The great thing about Stu is you all as a production team have to reach out to people. Stu just sent that. He sent that in. Here, I got an idea. I got an idea. Let's wish him happy birthday. As long as I get some air time. Love you, Stu. We'll always have you on.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
One more? Yeah, yeah, yeah. One more.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Amazing. Wow. He's like a father figure to me.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Like he, yes, he's scoring the goals, but he's also like,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Crying, right? Like Jesus. I got to spend some time with him last week in England and sat down, not just interviewed him, but sat down in his office and chatted. It was just like, God, we had so many great days. And I mean, the things that he's still doing as a manager and that you can like call on him as a friend and still get advice. He's 10 out of 10. He's amazing. Absolutely amazing. Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
I was in England. I, you know what, you know what I did? I went to the Tottenham Hotspur game against city. And I went with my dear friend, my good mate, Lyle Hardy, who's a legendary world famous tattoo artist in London. And, uh, Yeah. I was like, there's not many people I would like go and sit in the terraces and in the stands with. I know.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
dangerous and hungry and like I'm like wow he's a really really good player but again they've got good pieces around with Sullivan on the wing um there's just some there's a good makeup of this team that feels right and and look I think when you score when you score goals like that and back-to-back games it's just not like a coin there's not a coincidence to it yeah a little bit some more sloppy in the beginning of the season but like they're they're knocking on the door often when they have the ball
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
43, pal.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Oh, I'll be 46 sometimes.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
You know what's really funny? Real quick for our audience. You know what's really funny? we're three years apart and that like, that's like normal. We're the same, basically the same age. When I was in camp with you, the first camp you have, we ever, was it my U 20 team landed or something? And it was in Chula Vista.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
And you came in cause they were like, this kid's a wonder kid and he's playing for whatever team we're going to bring him into training. And I just remember you feeling like you were a baby. Like that gap felt huge. And now you're like, Oh, it's three years.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Maybe it was then. Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Congrats to her on an amazing career. Yeah, goat. I mean, and by the way, one thing you didn't mention about her stats, she kept her shorts long. She rocked those knee-length shorts all the way through. Like, such a baller. I think I marvel at, you know, the GOAT conversation, the best of all time. I marvel at it because I think there's levels, right, LD?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Like, how do you make it to be a professional? That's a level. How do you have one good season? That's a level. How do you become an all-star or champion? That's a level. When you're doing that consistently over the course of whatever it is, 20 years, that's just amazing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
I don't care what sport it is, but she literally, one, she stood on the shoulders of giants, but she also put the league and the sport on her back. Massive credit to her. I can't wait for her to put her feet up in retirement because she's earned it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Yeah, thanks, everybody. Always love spending time with you. Thank you to our presenting sponsors, VW, and our fan connection sponsor, AT&T. Have an amazing week. Look forward to seeing you all back here next Tuesday with another edition of Unfiltered Soccer.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Yeah, I'm with you on the Bruce Serena hot takes, man. You just like, you look at the team and... They're so scary in the attack. Like I look at that front four and I'm like, man, goals can come from anywhere. They're playing between lines. As you said, like the wingbacks, fullbacks are getting forward. And it's just a, you know, it's just a, a reminder to everybody.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
If you give a good football manager.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
right pieces you'll get performances like forget forget formations and like style of play like stop with all that there's so many ways to win a football match and if you get a good manager the right players top quality players you're going to win games and that's what bruce arena does so hats off to san jose they look really good i was having this conversation with someone the other day and same with david moyes right and obviously we're biased because we love both of them but
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
I went to be, I'm a man of the people.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Well, I sent you that because I was like, They announced the attendance, and I'm using air quotes, at 22,274. So 22,000 people. Oh, sure. If they're going to announce that, we're going to go with that for a second. But, I mean, you saw what I saw. Like, you read things online like it's cold. You know what else is cold? Buffalo.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
I was like, wow. If like, do you have an extra ticket for the city games? Like, yep, let's go. So when, yeah, dude, climb the stairs at the new stadium. I mean, Spurs stadium is awesome. Yeah. I've been actually to that place.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
You ever heard of Buffalo Bills? Let me tell you something. Like, number one. Number two, show me a football fan in the world. You can't stop them from going to their team's home opener. That's the one game, like, that they're so desperate for all season. And New England fans, who, by the way, live in that weather, are going to say it's because of the temps.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Like, I looked at, honestly, Lennon, I looked at it, and I remember MLS 1.0 because I was a product of that. And I'm there playing for the Metro Stars in the old Giant Stadium, and it looked exactly the same. To your point, you can count to 200 and see how many people in the stands. Man, New England, show up and show out because that's not great.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Oh dude, it was majestic. So like I went over, I interviewed David Moyes and Jordan Pickford for a piece on PLP and they, they, they were like, you want a private tour of the stadium? I'm like, yes, I want to. It was like literally you know, they had a group of people there with me who I, who I've known at the club and like, It was unbelievable.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Right.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
then the first home opener ever for an mls team and this happens and credit to san diego c obviously they denounced it quickly but this was really nasty it was really ugly to see yeah so i mean obviously your take on living there is such a poignant one you know i look san diego's head coach and sporting director both condemned it's a homophobic chant and slur and they condemned it um
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
Look, what I would say, anybody who knows me knows I don't put up with any of that crap. None of those things should be said. I don't like it. What I would say is my hope is, and I like that the sporting director and the head coach came out and condemned their own fans for the homophobic slur. My hope is...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
That moving forward, what happened was a group of fans got overzealous and it was the first home game and they were trying to, in their own way, albeit wrong, create this San Diego atmosphere style thing. And they got it completely and utterly wrong. And I pray moving forward that in the second home game, in the third and fourth and beyond, that that doesn't get mentioned again.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
If it does, obviously San Diego is going to have a problem and they're going to need to fix it. So let's just leave that there and hopefully it stays there.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
That's a good point. Let's move up to your team, LA Galaxy. Lost to Vancouver 2-1. How are you feeling?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Messi Skips Houston, San Jose Undefeated, FA Cup Red Cards, and USWNT First Loss Under Hayes
It was the first time, LD, that I was like, it's going to be sad leaving Goodison. Everybody's going to feel that. But I remember standing outside and then standing at the center circle and walking on the terrace. And I was like, this is actually a stadium we can be really proud of. And I thought and I think a lot of the supporters felt the same way as they've also toured the stadium.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
So a question I have for you, and I will probably never have the answer to this because they'll never answer, honestly. Do you think the owners in England, writ large, like promotion relegation? And obviously it depends on the spot you're in. But if you said, we're going to start over, and everybody's got the 92 teams in the English football, the top four tiers,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
You're going to start over and you're going to make your way to the top or you're going to make your way to the bottom. Would they want promotion relegation or would they say this is not a system that works for us?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen. Volkswagen has long been a supporter of soccer in America and has proudly been a partner of U.S. Soccer for the past five years.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
ownership stake in Lincoln city and league one. And I have a very good friend, Harvey Chibara, who, um, with Clive Nates there has, um, invested a lot of money in the club and they've spoken a lot about this reform that may be coming in for people don't understand.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
There are a lot of teams in the championship league, one league two, who as this, uh, you know, I call it the Rexham effect a little bit. Everybody thinks they can buy a club and be Ipswich and go up twice in a row and be in the Premier League and Wrexham now is doing it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
And the reality is, is for every Wrexham or Ipswich, there are 10, 12, 15 others who get American owners or foreign owners or spend way more than they can. And like you said, with Pompey, Portsmouth and And others are on the verge of going out of business. And so as a whole, English soccer, football has said, OK, we need to help subsidize some of these teams so that they can't go out of business.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
But if I'm the Premier League clubs now, I'm looking at it and say, OK, these guys are coming in. And I know very intimately how teams in League 1 and League 2 are spending now and how crazy it's gotten. I mean, they're spending millions and millions of pounds on transfers for players in League 1, which has never happened in the history of the league.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
And if I'm the Premier League clubs, I'm kind of looking at this and saying, wait, I'm subsidizing this so they can just go spend carelessly, right? So I understand the idea of wanting to protect English football, but at some point you have to put the onus too on the owners and say, you can't just keep spending like a drunken sailor.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
Yeah, that's a good question. I, as a fan, love it, right? Because I grew up in America watching American sports. And the biggest, to me, the most boring sport in the middle of the summer is baseball. And it's not because I think it's boring. I love baseball. I love watching baseball. It's that halfway through the season, half the teams have nothing to play for. Zero. Nothing to play for.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
And so I hate that. The best baseball season ever in the history of my life was in 2020 during COVID when they played 60 games. Because every game basically counted for three games. If you won a game, it counted for three in a normal season. And it was so exciting and so riveting. And I was glued to the television. But there's way too many games. It'll never change because there's so much revenue.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
And baseball is such a tradition in history that they'll never change the amount of games because stats matter so much. But I love the idea because every game matters. Every single game matters. Now, I'm looking at it as a fan. and not a business owner, and I'm not outlaying millions and millions or hundreds of millions of dollars, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
So if I was... And there's context, and there's nuance here. I can't be mad at MLS owners for not wanting promotion relegation. I get it. I understand it. But as a fan, as a player, one thing we haven't talked about yet is the opportunity for players. And I didn't think about that until I was coaching in San Diego. And a lot of the players, English players, would say...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
It gave us an opportunity to play at the next level because a club in the championship would never sign me as a League One player. But if we got promoted, all of a sudden I'm in the championship. And if I play well and do it, now I'm a championship player. And that changes my life. And if you go from championship to Premier League, that completely changes your life financially and otherwise.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
Right.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
Yeah. So let's take a quick break. I want, when we get back, let's, let's see, let's dive into how this would look in America potentially, because that's what we're really talking about. And now people have some context of what the Premier League looks like. how promotion relegation works, but let's see how this would work in America potentially. And we have lots of thoughts on that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
We'll come back with Adam, me and Tim right after this promotion and relegation talk here on unfiltered soccer with Landon and Tim presented by Volkswagen.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
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Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
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Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
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Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
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Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
In America.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
Yeah, but Tim, U.S. soccer is the governing body. Like they sit on top and they have to sanction the leagues.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
Go ahead, Adam.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
They want to watch the best. You know what, Adam, let me jump in real quick. It's, it's, um, in England, um, Throughout the years, those teams matter in their city regardless of what division they're in. And it doesn't fluctuate as much based on that. Like if, knock on wood, Lincoln City went down to League 2, they'd still probably have the same amount of fans, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
And in America, we don't understand the concept of not being in the top league. So continue, sorry. That's a foreign concept to us.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
And Adam, can you, just to start, just explain for, you know, most people understand what promotion relegation is, but just as a general statement, what it is in England, Europe, the rest of the world and how it works.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
It ain't happening.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
No, but look, Adam, look, the question is, will the league at some point find a creative way to tackle this, to make the games more exciting at the end of the year, right? Or throughout the year. So that's, I mean, when we turn on the Premier League here in America, and it's April 17th, and Ipswich are playing Everton, people are like, whoa, there's a lot at stake here, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
And they're 15th and 18th in the table. And people are like, oh my God, I can feel it in the state. And by the way, the performance of the players and the crowd, it all matches that. And that's what's riveting about the Premier League versus watching the Pittsburgh Pirates play the Cincinnati Reds in August, right? And so is there a creative way? I know in Mexico years ago,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
And I think they put a kibosh on this. But they used to do it, I think, over a three-year period. So you would have an average league position over three years. And if you were at the bottom after those three years, you would get relegated. So it gave you a little cushion. If you had one bad season, it didn't destroy you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
The other idea that people have talked about, I'm curious what you guys think about this is, could you, if MLS is now in 29, 30 top American cities, could you add the Phoenix's, the Vegas's, the Memphis's, San Antonio's, et cetera, of the world and make an MLS too? And have it within your system, just within MLS. So you have 40 teams now and 20 are in the top and 20 are in the bottom.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
And do you create it within yours? Will USL do it at some point, right? And just say, you know, forget about MLS and how that works. We're just going to do it on our own. Do you think those, or is there a creative, I guess, is there a creative solution? Because the way it is now, it's not going to happen, right? But is there a creative solution to bring it into our sport here?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
You're going to get people real mad now. We might have to bring you on a, we're going to get into that with you. Right.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
the season interesting and the way sport and I actually never thought about this sports in our country are interesting is because you have a playoff system, right? Which you don't have asthma you do in, in some format in other places in the world, but not, not to crown a champion the way we do in America with our playoffs. And so even if,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
Last year, the San Jose Earthquakes were way out of the playoffs. They're playing LA Galaxy at the end. There is meaning in the game for the Galaxy still because of the playoff push. Could that fit in still with promotion relegation, or would that have to go away? I'm just thinking about it as we're talking about it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
No, zero chance.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
well well to adam's point though this is america right like somebody could start a league and people have tried nisa and bringing back nasl yeah you could you can start your own league yep and and i mean you got to build it from scratch and credit to mls and don garber who built it from nothing and made it what it is today right so you you do have that opportunity if you want to go there and
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
Obviously, you need people with many, many billions of dollars. But Adam, question for you. How do people in England view playoffs here? And is that something that you think would ever trickle into the Premier League at any point?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
Can you imagine?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
They do that in Germany, yeah. That's actually quite entertaining. Yeah, it is entertaining.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
Mm-hmm.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
Yeah. We're going to stop torturing Adam. Um, I want to leave you guys with this. Just, I just thought this is so interesting. Okay. So this was a quote from Don Garver on, uh, when asked about if promotion relegation could exist. He said, I'm going to leave you with two quotes. First is Don Garber. This is the never say never thing, Garber said. I've been pretty consistent on that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
What have you been up to this week? Says nobody ever. Golfing. Oh, God, you golf so much. I know. I've got this league play match today. So you play. Don't laugh, dude. So you play. It's the only competition I have in my life anymore. You play individually against someone, then you have a teammate, and you as your teammate play against this other team.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
We shouldn't walk away from having the courage to evolve over time. And as the league continues to grow and evolve and our fan base and the market continue to grow and evolve, I don't see any reason why we wouldn't be thinking about new structures. I don't see how that works today, but I can't look far enough in the future to say never. Okay, so interesting.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
Then Nashville SC CEO Ian Ayer was asked about if MLS owners would want promotion and relegation. And he said MLS owners voting for promotion and relegation would be like turkeys voting for Thanksgiving.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
There you have it, right? So the owners very clearly, but Don sees the big picture and says, you know what? You never know. Let's be open to it. And maybe it's not exact promotion relegation the way we're thinking of it now, but you're only limited by your creativity, right? So...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
Many billions.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
I always ask that, but there's always more, Adam. Yeah. There's always more. There's always more. Yeah. All right, guys, we are going to take a break. Adam, thank you so much. We will dive into mailbag questions that you guys submitted about promotion relegation. Adam, I think we're going to have to have you back on once we have a lot of feedback from our fans. But we appreciate you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
You were brilliant.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
We'll be right back with the AT&T Fan Connection here on Unfiltered Soccer with Landon and Tim, presented by Volkswagen.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
Hello, JR.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
Hey, it was great. Awesome. Great. We're going to have great questions after this. Yeah, yeah, we are. This lights a fire.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
Great question. God, I need time to think about that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
Mm-hmm.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
I struggle with this because I believe in a free and open market in America, and I love that. And so I love that concept that you can have a Starbucks across the street from a Philz coffee across the street from a Blue Bottle coffee, you know, and everybody just, you know, you either survive or you don't. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
My problem is that that system, and we'll get into this in another episode, has destroyed youth soccer in our country. So I know we're not talking about youth soccer today, but if it was a free-for-all and there was... MLS and USL and NISA and NASL and some other one that, and does it dilute soccer as a general statement that we all love and are trying to grow? I don't know.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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So I'm, I'm not trying to sit on the fence here, but I think ideally everybody in the U S soccer landscape could come together and do what's I'm an idealist. I know do what's best for the sport. I know that probably will never happen, but that would be my goal.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
Sorry to jump in. I never even thought of it. Do teams purposely do that?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
I never even thought of that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
It's actually not, you know, it's risky. Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
That's a good question. Good question. I mean, yeah, I could see teams. With ownership, you get a vast spectrum of people who... really care about winning. And there's people who's like, I could care less. My valuation's going up. I'm trying to break even or make some cash. You could absolutely see some people saying, let's just tow this line for sure.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
From the championship as a result of that championship trophies, baby count for a lot.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
But then what's the incentive to be in the first, let's call it MLS1 versus ML? What would be the incentive? I don't know if there's prestige incentives or whatever, but what's the incentive if there's no financial? What are you getting?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
You're right. So I'm just thinking if it was the Premier League and the Championship, I mean, there's obviously no opportunity to be in the Champions League. You can't win the league. So maybe there's ways you can create it. It's an interesting idea. Maybe you just make that gap much smaller in the financial differences between the leagues so that it's not so stark. Interesting idea.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
All right, JR. Thank you very much. All right, guys. That was certainly interesting, Tim. I enjoyed that. Did you? Yeah, it was good.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
Yeah, that was awesome. Adam was really good. And I think you guys will probably have lots of questions. We don't have the answers, but a really good topic and one that will be continually discussed here and elsewhere. Thanks, you guys. Thanks for being here. Remember to subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts.
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Follow the show all across our social media platforms at Unfiltered Soccer for lots of bonus content.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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It was great.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
And Leeds. And Leeds is another example.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
We're going to get into the cons as well, but that is certainly one of the pros of promotion relegation. Nottingham Forest or Ipswich or teams like this that at one time were in the Premier League and then fell out, but now there's always the opportunity. I like that you said dream, like you can dream, right? And Americans love to dream, so we understand that. And there's...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
I think the differences are just to start is when major league soccer was started, it was very, I would say almost likely that teams or the league was going to fail and just go up in flames. Like previous iterations of professional soccer in America had, had done the NASL famously. amongst many others. And so the league, I think to protect itself said, we absolutely have to just survive to start.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And so the idea of an owner losing 10 or $15 million a year, and then getting relegated to at that time, what was called the A-League is now called USL, was a non-starter. That would just never happen. And in England and other parts of the world, these clubs have been around for centuries, in some cases, or a century plus.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
So they didn't, they started with nothing basically, and they could just work their way through the system up and down. And it's, you know, there are, there are vast differences that we'll get into, but, um, Tim, I'm curious why actually you're against it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
So we're playing San Diego Country Club today. This is a big match here at our home course.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Promotion and Relegation with Adam Crafton
You were just talking about how cold it is. I said to my wife this morning, I'm like, It's actually warm today. I think it was 58 degrees when I walked outside. I hate you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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All right guys. Reminder as always follow us on social media Unfiltered Soccer. Make sure to subscribe to the show on YouTube. Follow on Apple Podcasts and Spotify if you like what we're doing or if you don't just leave a comment. We like it. We like reading the bad ones. Timmy loves the banter. You can also email us at feedback at unfilteredsoccer.com. What do we got today, Tim?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
I'm just wondering if they bring in a big hitter in the summer. You know what I mean? That's a good question.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
I know. I know.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
You don't even know what half that stuff is.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Good for you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
But pretty cool. Good for one of those teams, for sure.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
I think you understand why. I would also say I love Club America. I mean, it's such a massive club. It's so crazy, you know, the support they have. Brilliant stadium. But anyway, yeah, we know why. All right, we'll see.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Yeah, I mean, what's your big gripe? You said you were naive to it a little bit. So what's your... What's the big gripe? All right.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Not a big deal. It's also Juergen Klinsmann we're dealing with. Yeah, no, I get it.
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Yeah. I mean, I think, I think what you're, what, what you're speaking to is kind of what, what I see as well. I mean, You know, he put on Instagram that nobody hates missing matches more than me. It was a very difficult decision. That I don't doubt. And I certainly don't doubt him. He's a player that I respect and I like as a person. I think the world of him.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Look, if he had to, whatever issue, it was a tendonitis or it was something like that, that he was dealing with. It needed rest. It needed a 10-day rest or something. And he's managing that. I think when... From a U.S. soccer standpoint, he could have rested... He could have rested the Premier League weekend before, which would have given him a week. He could have... played in the U.S.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
games and then rested it for the FA Cup, right? He chose to take the rest during the Nations League. But again, and I think that is... What we're seeing, that's his choice. But I think on a level of priorities, it was Premier League, FA Cup, men's national team. And I think it probably speaks to a bigger problem at the national team level. And it's what I said was my biggest concern.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
I actually said this going into the last World Cup in 2022. This group of players, I think I mentioned on the last pod as well, There aren't any more competitive games after the Gold Cup, right? And I just, I wonder how many games between now and the World Cup, the best group of players that we have will play together.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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It'll likely be zero. Really? Really? So that is a problem. And I think this speaks to the bigger issue.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Funny part of that. So my first year at Manchester United, I won the FA Cup. Played most of the games and played in the final. My second year...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
i lost my spot and i didn't i played a couple of games but i didn't play in the final and uh funny enough we i i had saved a couple penalties and i won the community shield in a shootout so sir alex ferguson at like i don't even know like right after regular time going into the going into extra time he was like tim go warm up i'm putting you on for penalties Sure as heck. I went and warmed up.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Speaking of comments and questions and concerns, you got some soccer swag and you want me to rock it and shout your team out, send it to me. We're all soccer all the time.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
He forgot to put me on. He told me after the game. We went to penalties. He said he forgot. Roy Carroll was in goal. We lost. He literally said, he said, I forgot. Which is crazy. But anyway, that's not the point. So the following year, my third season and final season at United were playing in the League Cup. And... And I played... Yeah, I played most of the games.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
I mean, I played three or four games. And we get to the semifinal. This is when they brought Edwin Van Nessar in. So, like, as a second goalkeeper, the only games you're really getting are, like, cup games, you know? So, I'm having a good run. So, I'm like, all right, like, I'm no slouch. Like, I'm, you know, I've done good things at Man United. So, I'm getting the cup games.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And this is League Cup, by the way. And... We get to the semifinal, I think it was against Blackburn, at their place. And Sir Alex Ferguson pulled me and he said, look, I'm starting Edwin tonight. And I was irate. I was furious, man. I was furious. But it didn't matter. He didn't care that I was furious. He wanted to win the game and he went with the best goalkeeper.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
And we got to the final and then we won the final. And so you just got to deal with it. It sucks. It sucks. But their manager is going to play... the best goalkeeper and he thinks that that he needed to play the number one. It's tough luck, man. It's tough luck. And it's just the way it goes and it sucks.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
And I wish I could tell you that there's some formula, but there's not, you know, you, you be better. And that's what I had to do. I'd be better. You know, that's what I was. And I, and I wasn't Edwin Van Nessar was clearly better than me.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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I mean, that's the crazy thing. They've had... I mean, their downfall has been so... widely publicized. And yet if they wouldn't, there's a part of me that could kind of want to win the FA cup just because like, we love seeing greatness and you're like, that would be amazing. It would be amazing. I mean, they've got every chance, right? I mean, it sent me final round. Uh, when is it?
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It's this one, April 26th forest versus city and palace versus bill. I mean, all, all primarily heavyweights. Right. So like, yeah, It'll be good. Right. So US LNT, that's us, on US WNT. Talk to me about this US Brazil preview. How are you feeling about it?
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Yeah, it's tough. I mean, backs are really, really difficult for a lot of reasons, but it is. It's the one injury that you just like it. it's your mobility and that's what she's built on. She's got brilliant pace, really strong, obviously great tidy feet in and around the penalty area, but like ultimately it's her explosiveness that, that kind of gets her off the mark.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
So hopefully that she can manage that. And, you know, we don't, we don't see any sort of demise cause she's absolutely sensational to watch.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
No, no, no, no, no, no. She's tough. She's tough as nails as well. Listen, the one thing about this, and I oftentimes think, well, I think back to my own career all the time because there's so many parallels, but it never, you know when like, and we played together so many times, you know when you didn't play well or you're coming off a loss? Like, this is amazing from Emma. I love this.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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But it never meant anything to me if a coach said that to me. I'm thinking, good. Training should be hard, man. That's right. We stunk it up last time. We lost. We were saying it to each other. Or whatever. Yeah, that's right. I'm thinking, I'm getting on the plane coming into camp thinking- Like, you better be working hard. Like, this is... You better be leading and driving this team forward.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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So, like, it's so interesting. But I love the quote. I also, you know, as we referenced, you have Sophia Wilson's out, Mallory's out. Like, it's...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
you know some players need to step up and i think she's probably she's probably seeing that like you all of a sudden we don't have our like our star necessarily so everyone else is going to drop drop the ball it's not that's not how it's going to work work on my watch so i really i really like how direct she was and and and look it's great i mean she said it which means she definitely is going to back it up which means it's going to be a hard camp so we'll see the reaction that's going to be fun to watch i'm actually not excited to watch these two games
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Right, LD, something that came across our desk that is of relevance because it's a big matter, but also because it deals with CONCACAF and Canada. And that's the injury to Alphonso Davies. He suffered a torn ACL in the third place game against the U.S. And there's some people not happy about that. particularly his agent and Bayern Munich.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And I think to give context, I'll read these quotes because they're really interesting. Davey's agent, Nadal Hussein, said to One Soccer, I'm very disappointed. Alphonso was not 100% after the Mexico game. It was planned that he was not going to start against the US on Saturday night. The expectation is that he wouldn't be in the starting 11 as captain.
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I feel he was pressured to start the game by the coach. Alphonso was not the kind of guy to say no to those moments. He ended up playing and look what happened. Canada soccer needs to do a better job managing these players, in my opinion. Alphonso was down and obviously disappointed, so on.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Bayern Munich's chief executive, Jan-Christian Driesen, said, we are demanding a full investigation into the events from Canada soccer and expressly reserve the right to take legal action. Sending a clearly injured player... with a damaged knee on a 12 hour flight without thorough medical assessment. And our view is grossly negligent and clear and a clear breach of medical duty of care.
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Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Um, the participation of Davies who already had muscular problems in the game, um, And he says, this is the interesting part, in a match of no sporting significance is incomprehensible from our viewpoint. Canada Soccer then released a statement, said that they followed all protocols. They were in constant communication with Bayern Munich, so on and so forth.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
So a lot to unpack there, a lot of opinions. Where do you stand on this?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Thank you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
LD, what up? I am repping St. Joe's Soccer. My dear friend, Tim Mulqueen, has been hired as the head men's soccer coach there. Is that a college? Yeah, I was up on Hawk Hill. Chatting to the boys. They just started their spring season, so they're super stoked and excited. So the hawk will never die, they tell me. So go St. Joe's.
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Yeah. Very well said. Listen, I go back further with Peter Vermees than almost anybody because when he played at Rutgers University back in the early 90s, I was a ball boy at Rutgers on the sideline. I was a little tot, ran my jersey, and they were going to Final Four. So kind of watched his rise through the men's national team. Again, like you, played against him, played against him as a coach.
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He's tough as nails. He's a gentleman. But hats off to Kansas City and hats off to Peter Vermees. In 15 years, by the way, I know they've had success. But also there's been some tough times in there too.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And for both of those parties to be able to navigate that and spend a decade and a half at a club and really cement them as part of that brilliant Kansas City sporting community and league-wide, nothing but good things to say about Peter Burmese.
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Yeah, I mean, I think it's fixable. And Pochettino said there's time, and I've referenced. I think there's a short amount of time, but yeah, there's still some time to... have success with this group. There's no doubt about that. I mean, but there are significant things that we as fans probably need and want to see, right? And that is... That is that fight and that spirit.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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And I would never say that players don't care. It's a hard thing to levy against a player. That's like rock bottom. You only say that when you're certain. You can't say, I don't think this guy cares or I think he's down tools. You have to have solid inside information and confidence.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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and no so i i don't say that about these players that they don't care they do care um but again what what to what extent right because they didn't care they wouldn't play for their national team right because i know a lot of guys in england particularly which is a whole nother kettle of fish like they just they've declined going into their national team right ben white uh at arsenal he's the best right back that england has and he declines the invite because he
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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He's had a falling out. So they care, but it's to what level, right? We talked about priorities and running through a wall for your country and the togetherness. And by the way, I know, look... Players on this current team have issues with me and things that I say. That's fine. They're not beholden to me, and I'm not beholden to them. But the fact of the matter is, this is what you sign up for.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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When Landon had a bad game, and he had a couple of bad games, people started to question whether he cared. Is it fair? No. But results and performances shape people's opinions.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Coming right back at you with more of your questions, comments, and concerns from the mailbag. Jordan, as always, so lovely to have you. Hit us with it.
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I did think about it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
That's cool. Are they playing in Queens at Columbia still?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Yeah, Coney Island's in Brooklyn.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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He has no idea. He would never step foot in Coney Island. Ever. He's in Manhattan Beach. I mean, that says it all.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
I'm a man of the people. No, you are not.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
No, I'm stumped. Keep going. I'm going to wait this one out until you finish.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
99, 99.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Right. So that's, you know, 25 years ago. So we've had really good youth success to, you know, the point that you make about like, whether it's great, it's probably not great for them to, it's probably better for them to lose a really hard game three nil or two one than to win 22, nothing. Because I think the development, as you mentioned in this country is just so incredibly poor.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
You know, I think about, I think about small things, even my, my daughter's team this year. So there's a, Her high school team, she goes to a really good private school, and then the public school in the town is also... They're awesome. They're two of the best two teams. And they went toe-to-toe, and the public high school, who's probably better, didn't play us this year.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
And we're like, how are they not on the schedule? And the coach... They said, oh, because all the girls played club soccer together. The game got too emotional over the last couple of years, so we didn't schedule the game. And I was like, I want my daughter to play in that game because it's tough. It's physical. It's nasty. They don't always win in my daughter's team.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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So I'm like, those are the best games. And this Joker is like, no, we're not going to schedule this year. So it's broken and crazy. But listen, hats off. As you said, at the World Cup, if they perform well, that's a really good thing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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Money is everything. So let's start there. You've got one career. You've got to make the best of it. And these players are doing fabulous in terms of carving out a good career for themselves at clubs and getting paid well. So they should be doing that. When we talk about teams over the last two generations...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
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There have been players on those teams who have earned really, really wonderful livings with their club team. There was still a fight and a desire and a nastiness. I think money is never the reason why someone doesn't care. In fact... I cared more because I wanted to make more money. And when I performed well, and I was kicking butt at the top, I got paid more money.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
So yeah, it's not a direct correlation.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
He just doesn't stop. Philly were good. I'm on this Philly bandwagon. I think they play really good football. They create a lot of good chances. And in the game, They create a ton of chances that, like you said, probably could have drawn level or even won. The Messi thing is funny because, look, I think what we're seeing this season is 37. I mean...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
And by the way, by the way, the funny balance of this all is like you and I, you know, at international team camp, oftentimes you have, you have team meals like freaking every day. And if you're good, a good behavior, the manager will let you go out for dinner or something on your own. But like we sit around, you sit around the lunch table or the, or the dinner table. If you're a good team, you,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
long after dinner's over and you're sitting there chatting with your boys, you don't want to go back to your room by yourself. So like you're hanging out and the amount of times, you know, Landon, you and I've been in the same room.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
We're like, we're like, yo, if we win tomorrow, we, you know, if we're in a tournament and then we advance, we're like, yo, we, you, you, the pot of money that we get goes, goes up significantly. And like, we're all chuckling. Like, yo, we, this isn't, we got to win tomorrow. And then, you know, there's other guys in camp.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
By the way, certainly towards the end of our national team careers, we're like, there's some MLS guys in camp who if we win tomorrow, their bonus will pay their rent for three months straight. It's crazy. But now to quantify that, it's not as if we went on the field and we're like, we got to win for the money. There's a balance there. You wanted to win anyway.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
That was just a fun, like Landon said, cheer in the locker room afterwards because you're getting paid, but you're also feeling really great that you won. So there's a balance. And I think sometimes... people on the outside look at it and it's like, Oh, these overpaid guys, that's not it. They care. They need to care.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Not New Zealand.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
You correct me, I correct you. It's fine. All right, fine.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
what we're seeing early on is I think what's going to continue. He's going to rest. They're going to manage, manage his minutes to get him through to the end of the season. You know, when, when the big important games are, and it's just how it is. It's, it's what we, he's 37 can't roll back time. So this is kind of what we're seeing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
I like Patrick Edgman. I think he, I think he, he provides this like vertical threat, you know, and sometimes that doesn't, sometimes it doesn't always mean like when people talk about like verticality, like straight line runner ball over the top scores a goal.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
It doesn't always mean that sometimes it means getting side on running into the channel, chasing a ball down where you can hold the ball and get your team up to pitch. Like it's really important for, for strikers to be able to do that. And I, and I think he's, He's off to a good start in his national team career. He needs to keep adding to that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Certainly banging goals in for Charlotte will help, but he's in the shop window. I mean, what happened? Look, it's going to be a battle between Ricardo Pepe and Flo Balligan. We know that. Absolutely. But to be able to have a striker... like Ajumang, to be able to, as Landon said, go to him in a pinch, in a substitute role. Can he start? Does he earn enough of that to start?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Like I said, I like him because I also like the players underneath him. I think there's a lot of talent with the players who play underneath him, whether that be Weah or Pulisic or Gio Reyna. If he ever gets selected to start, there's... There's enough ball possession and ball dominance in that midfield that you actually want your striker to go away, be a nuisance, get in the box, and he has that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
So, yeah, I think he's off to a good start.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Yeah, that's a fair comment, Doug. It's fair. I mean, I do agree that generational talent has a shelf life. I mean, he is, you know, I think about, I watched batting practice at Colorado Rockies when I was there and the manager came up to me and we were just chatting and I forget the guy's name. He got traded to Chicago Cubs. Anyway, I'll remember. It might've been Gonzalez.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
And he was just, he's left-handed, smacking balls, landing into the upper deck. Easy, easy. It's just like you chipping a ball into the goal. It was like nothing. And he looked at me and he's like, that's a generational swing. He said, you don't see that. Now, Cargo, Carlos Gonzalez, yeah. And so I don't know, and without disrespect to Carlos Gonzalez, I don't know if he's ever like gone on to –
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
I think the funny part for me is when I watched the ball, it got shifted across and then it got, it goes to messy on the, on the right hand side. And I, did you play in the Argentina game at, um,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
do what he was supposed to do in the game, but the swing was generational. And so I think sometimes that needs to, that gets lost. Like Gio is, we don't produce these players. Like you're, you're Claudio Reina and Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, and John O'Brien, who everyone forgets about. And, and, and Gio Reina and Christian Pulisic, these players don't pop up all the time. They're special.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
And so, and so it's easy to talk about them, but the, the point's well taken at a certain point. It's absolutely on him to find that magic, find the right groove and rhythm, play week in and week out. You're a 90-minute player all season, ever-present for a couple of years in a row. That's a fair comment. And so hopefully this summer we'll begin to see the start of that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
at giant stadium yeah it's my 100th cap oh no kidding okay so yeah i remember i tell the story because you'll remember this but you weren't in an area where you needed to defend messy you were high and you were wide but we worked we yeah we worked all week i remember bob bradley it was he was he was relentless he was honest saying like one get to the ball get chest to chest with messy armed against him one covers it was awesome training was great we're like we're gonna lock this kid up
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Yeah, I just... Look, I think to carry on from that, because it sparked a thought that I... One thing that I hate, I hate, that I wish managers would do more. And I'm thinking Marcus Rashford and Amorim, and before that, Ten Hag. I'm thinking Pochettino and Giorena. I just wish, like, when you... Like, if you and I got hired as the U.S. National Team managers tomorrow, right? We could identify...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
five players that were like, we, we gotta, we have to have these guys on side. We're not going to count out, bow down to them, but like, we have to have these guys on side. Like for me, and I don't know if this did or didn't happen, but like for me, I'm looking at that and I'm going, surely one of the flights that I'm taking is going into Germany and
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
And sitting down at a coffee shop with Gio and being like... One of the first ones, Tim. One of the first ones. One of the first ones. And I'm saying, as the coach, Gio, what do you need? Forget all the other bullshit that happened. What do you need from me? Because I need you on the pitch being your amazing self. So what do you need from me? Right? That's what I would have done.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
That's what I would have done with Marcus Rashford. And I just don't know if that always happens. I don't know if it's an ego thing, but... Yeah. I don't know. You're right. Anyway. There.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
The question everyone's asking.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
It's great. I'm excited. I'm excited for the Gold Cup. I really am. I'm excited for what's the response. Emma Hayes talked about it with the women's national team. I'm getting a response. One way or the other, I'm getting a response. And that's what she's saying. That's what I'm looking forward to with the men this summer. They need a response. Everybody knows it. There's literally no secret now.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Let's go.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Yeah, just to echo that, Landon, I mean, we thank you guys. We thank everybody every week, and it's weeks like this where we see this
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
podcast soaring and it's because of you you know we're nothing without you all the listeners again i say it every week we love your comments the good the bad the ugly it doesn't matter keep on bringing it passion we love the passion and we love the passion from our presenting sponsor vw and our fan connection sponsor at&t have an amazing week look forward to seeing you all back here next tuesday uh with another edition of unfiltered soccer
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
right the second the second the game the the whistle blew and the ball went to him it was like you know you'll play super mario brothers and you get the star and then no one can touch you no no one got around it and i'm thinking we trained all week to get around them and i say that because Totally. He's so special.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
When the ball got shifted, the center back saw his, I guess it was the left center back, go tight to Messi. And I'm thinking, you got to sprint over there. Like, you have to sprint over there and give cover. You can't leave my guy on an island. He shifts it and scores. It was incredible. He is something special.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
It's fine. But I love Mulchie. You're not a man of the people.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
But that's the special thing about him, right? LD, if you think you've tried that, I mean, every player in every game has tried that. And by the way, he can eye-tackle. All I remember about Messi is playing against him twice, and then one time I was in drug testing with him after the game, so we both got called back into doping.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
So I'm just sitting there, desperately wanting to talk to him, but scared to death. I don't think I said boo to him. I looked the other way.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Well, he didn't score either. Spanish, dude.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
I just wanted to say what up. Wave.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Here's what I think. And nobody's going to want to hear this, but I think this is the facts. The greatest thing for this current Miami team is that they won a supporter shield last year, right? So they don't have to chase that. That's off the table. I don't think Miami gives a good god darn whether they win a supporter shield, right? Which means this team is built for big games, okay?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
This team is built for big games.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
So I think it's not even going to be Messi getting his minutes managed by Mascherano. I think you're going to – I don't think they care if they finish fourth or first. I don't. I think they care – if they finish fourth – and they go into the playoffs healthy, I think they're like, sweet, good, this is great. I don't think they're concerned with winning any prizes in the regular season.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
I just don't. And so I think to answer your question, they can obviously pick up knocks throughout the year, but I do think a lot of these older players are going to have their minutes managed with an eye just for the playoffs.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Which is great.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Yeah, I mean, the point you make is well taken. Defending in the MLS is woeful. Like, it's woeful. When I remember, and it wasn't that long ago that I was playing in the MLS, and it... The ideas aren't there. The tactical spatial awareness isn't there. When you see really good defenders, the alarm bells are going off constantly. And you can see by their body language and their motion.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
I know that pass was on, but I'm launching this into row Z because guess what? That's what my instinct was telling me. The amount of poor judgment and decisions by defenders. by defenders. The lack of, I mean, it's like a jagged edge. You know, when you're talking about a back line being rigid, I mean, there's players all over the place stepping in places they shouldn't.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Not running into channels, no cover. It's, Defending is woeful, to your point. I think it's league-wide, but to your point, people don't spend money in those areas, and it's a shame.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Well, to add clarity to what you're saying, because I talk about the Pep Guardiola effect all the time and I say it in a cheeky way that he's ruined so many of the coaches because everyone thinks they can play like his teams play. And the thing that incenses me in football when people say like, we're a pressing team. Shut up. You're not a pressing team.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
It's impossible to press for 45 minutes or 90 minutes. What City have done and they've cracked the code is like you said. So, and he did this at Barcelona. He started it. He's got the best players in the world who can keep the ball for as long as they want, right? When it turns over.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Also, you're not a man of the people because what are you drinking? You're so LA. Show everybody what you're drinking.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Forever. So when the ball turns over, They attack like dogs, right? They put you under so much pressure and they win it back. Or, and I've played against some of these teams that do this really well, you end up launching the ball, right? Because he can buy the best defenders in the world, he had at a time Kyle Walker and Diaz and Stones, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
So they can win a track meet, they get it, recycle it, and they're back on top of you. But teams think they can press all the time, and they can't. Man City presses because they can possess the ball better than anybody else. So, yeah, it's it's an interesting concept. And I think but circling back, you can't play like you can't play like that if you don't spend the money on defenders.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Vermes Out at KC, FA Cup Quarterfinals, Bayern Munich vs Canada, & Your USMNT Comments
Question, do they still have a DP spot open? I can't remember. Or did they fill it?